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Thanks, bia! I'll guess I'll have to make an afternoon of it. : )

here's a video of laura schenone, the author of "the lost ravioli recipes of hoboken" making ravioli dough, rolling it out, and filling and cutting the ravioli.

Remember not to work your dough to much. That is what will give it that tough or rubbery texture. It should melt in your mouth.

You will find such pleasure in making your own pasta-ohmmmmm.

Marcella Hazan's instructions on rolling out pasta by hand have been very helpful to me. It is a specific technique, where you first roll out the dough to a flat round without worrying about how thin it is. Then you gather one edge of the dough and wrap it around your roller, just so the end is tucked under (as if you were to roll the whole piece up on your pin). Next you use your fingertips to roll the pin back and forth, while at the same time exerting pressure on the dough to stretch it out towards the ends of the pin. It sounds awkward, or like chewing gum and walking at the same time, but once you get the hang of it, it works pretty well and is a fairly quick process. Plus, by stretching out the dough in this manner, I have never torn a hole in it, as you might by repeatedly trying to roll it flat. You will have to unroll the pasta sheet, turn it, and roll it again from another angle a couple times in order to get it as thin and even as you want. I found this technique in Hazan's Classic Italian Cook Book, but I am sure it is repeated in some of her other books.

i think it would also help if you can get your hands on 00 flour from italy. it's extra low protein so that the gluten doesn't get too strong.

Okay, so here's he deal. You can make ravioli without a pasta machine, and though I appreciate that someone posted my theatrical video on youtube above, what you see me do here is the old fashioned art of slapping and stretching pasta, which takes a long time to learn and very few people practice this craft anymore. I learned it in Italy. And though this kind of stretched pasta is superior as Marcella Hazan describes in her book because of its porous and gossamer quality, you can achieve the same thing that a pasta machine does by simpling rolling really hard back and forth with a regular old rolling pin until it is 1/16 of an inch thick. You'll find this easier if you use a lower gluten flour, or even just make a slightly wetter dough and let it rest a good long time in a sealed plastic bag so it doesn't snap back on you. I spent two years obsessed with ravioli and lived a ravioli/pasta life for several years--so if you want more you might check out www.lostravioli.com. You might not be thrilled with your first few efforts but stick with it and you'll be glad you did. It's worth it.

Others have already said, make a wetter dough and let it autolyse ( rest to absorb the liquids ).

For ravioli by hand, take very small pieces of pasta and roll them out into thin rounds. Roll, turn 1/4 turn, roll again. Repeat until you have what you are looking for. You can also cut them with a round cookie cutter if you are having trouble with uniformity.

Make 1/2 moon shaped ravioli by folding the round over the filling and sealing.

use the 00 flour rather than a relaxer. yuck.

the question of how wet... well, it can't be sticking, so there is only so wet you can go. The idea is that when it's wet, it rolls out thinner and snaps back less. good luck!

laura schenone
www.lostravioli.com