• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Julia's Album

I make lots of dinner recipes

  • Pasta
  • Chicken
  • Seafood
  • PRESS
  • About
  • Facebook
  • bloglovin
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Pasta Chicken

Ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling, in tomato cream sauce

Published: Oct 01, 2012 | 134 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling, in tomato cream sauce – meatless, Italian style pasta dish, with everything made completely from scratch!  Learn how to make ravioli dough from scratch, how to shape ravioli, what filling to use and what sauce to make. Detailed instructions and step-by-step photos to show you how to make the ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling at home!
spinach ravioli cream sauce

I was originally planning to post a light-hearted and easy recipe about how to make a yummy plum drink, but I changed my mind and instead I took an endeavor of making fresh pasta ravioli from scratch.  So I made super delicious spinach ravioli with ricotta cheese filling in a creamy tomato sauce. Here is my recipe featured on SeriousEats Weekend Cook and Tell: Fresh Pasta. Very exciting!

Even though the below recipe on how to make ravioli has many steps, making fresh pasta ravioli is actually pretty easy, especially because you have a very detailed tutorial that I created below. I have created and tested the below recipe, to make sure I have the exact proportions for the ravioli dough (pastry), so if you follow my steps precisely, you will create a wonderful ravioli dish that will impress your family and/or guests.

The most important part here is to roll your ravioli dough very thinly – that’s the secret to great tasting ravioli! To roll it thinly, the dough should have just the right proportion of water to flour, which I denoted in my ingredients section below. It is important to let ravioli dough sit for an hour, covered in plastic wrap, so that the gluten does its job, and the resulting dough is nice and elastic enough for you to work with.

And, finally, I think it’s great to learn how to make your own ravioli, because then you can endlessly experiment with fillings instead of just buying what grocery stores offer you. I am personally never impressed with the selection of pre-made ravioli in stores, so that’s primary reason why I learned to make my own.

Below are some step-by-step photos illustrating major steps on how to make ravioli from scratch. The actual recipe is below the photos. Make sure to scroll down all the way for the complete recipe.

Ravioli Dough Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt

How to make ravioli dough from scratch

First, make the ravioli dough according to the recipe instructions below and let it sit for 1 hour.

  1. Mix flour with salt.
  2. Stir water with egg until well mixed.
  3. In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated. Knead the ravioli dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. However, it should not be too dry, either.
  4. Make the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap. Let the ravioli dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work.

How to make spinach and ricotta cheese filling

  1. Heat olive oil on medium heat, add spinach and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until spinach wilted, about 15 minutes.
  2. Cook for 5 or 10 more minutes uncovered until all liquid evaporates.
  3. Chop cooked spinach finely and move to a bowl.   Add Parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese, salt to taste and mix well.  Add more salt if necessary.

mixing spinach and ricotta cheese

How to make ravioli from scratch

  1. Divide the ravioli dough (instructions on how to make ravioli dough from scratch are above) into 2 equal halves and roll each half into a very thin sheet with a rolling pin.
  2. Make sure to have flour on hand and dust the working surface or rolling pan when necessary, because the dough will be sticky. It’s important that the ravioli dough be rolled very thinly (paper-thin), otherwise ravioli will be too solid when cooked, because dough expands during cooking. Also it will be really hard to use the ravioli mold if the dough is not thin enough.
  3. Once you rolled sheets of dough, shape individual raviolis. To shape ravioli, I use a very handy device, Ravioli mould/tray, which works great! I purchased it at William-Sonoma, you can see the picture of it below:

ravioli mold with the rolling pin and homemade ravioli

How to shape ravioli using the mold

  1. Dust the working mold tray with flour
  2. Lay a thin layer of ravioli dough on the tray
  3. Press the ravioli dough in the holes of the mold
  4. Fill the holes of ravioli dough with the spinach ricotta cheese filling, without overfilling
  5. Cover with another layer of ravioli dough, which should lay flat all the way across the mould
  6. Using the rolling pins or your fingers, press the upper layer of ravioli dough against the lower layer, close and cut the ravioli
  7. Overturn the mold tray to let the ravioli fall out

Below photos illustrate these steps:
lay one thin sheet of ravioli over the ravioli mold

Fill ravioli dough with spinach mixture

Add another thin layer of ravioli dough on top of ravioli mold

ravioli inside the ravioli mold with the rolling pin

ravioli in a ravioli mold

ravioli made with the ravioli mold

You can take the scraps of the dough and add them to your covered dough for future rolling.

When you are done shaping ravioli, bring a big pot of water to boil, add ravioli and cook for 5 minutes, then drain. Or, alternatively, freeze ravioli until you’re ready to cook them.

cooked and boiled spinach ravioli

How to make tomato cream sauce

  1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Chop tomatoes and garlic and add to the pan.  Cook covered for about 10 minutes until tomatoes soften.
  2. Add white wine and chopped thyme.  Bring to boil and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes until half of liquid evaporates.  Remove from heat, let it cool for a bit.

cooking tomato sauce in skillet

Then transfer to blender and puree the tomato mixture.  Transfer the puree back to the pan, reheat to medium heat and add heavy cream.  Stir until well incorporated.

blending tomato sauce

blended tomato sauce with heavy cream

Cut each grape tomato in half and add all of them to the pan with the tomato cream sauce.   Salt to taste and and more chopped thyme if needed.  Cook for 5 more minutes.

To serve, add cooked ravioli to the sauce at the last minute.  Allow both ravioli and the sauce achieve same temperature.   When serving on plates, garnish with thyme.

More ravioli recipes

  • Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce and Pecans
  • Pesto Ravioli and Vegetables
  • Chicken Ravioli with Pesto and Veggies
  • Mushroom Ravioli with Spinach
  • Italian Ravioli with Spinach, Artichokes, Capers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  • Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans
  • Homemade Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Spinach Filling
4.98 from 37 votes
spinach ravioli
Print
Spinach Ravioli with Ricotta Cheese Filling, in Tomato Cream Sauce
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

Homemade ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling, smothered in a creamy tomato sauce.  Learn how to make ravioli dough from scratch, how to shape ravioli, what filling to use and what sauce to make.   Detailed instructions and step-by-step photos to show you how to make the ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling at home!  

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 508 kcal
Author: Julia
Ingredients
How to make ravioli dough from scratch:
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli filling:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 10 oz spinach
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
  • 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Tomato cream sauce:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups grape tomatoes yellow and red
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make ravioli dough from scratch:
  1. Mix flour with salt.

  2. Stir water with egg until well mixed.

  3. In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. However, it should not be too dry, either. Make the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work. 

How to make ravioli cheese filling:
  1. Heat olive oil on medium heat, add spinach and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until spinach wilted, about 15 minutes.

  2. Cook for 5 or 10 more minutes uncovered until all liquid evaporates.

  3. Chop cooked spinach finely and move to a bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese, salt to taste and mix well. Add more salt if necessary.

How to assemble ravioli using ravioli mold:
  1. After the ravioli dough has been resting at room temperature for 1 hour, divide the ravioli dough (instructions on how to make ravioli dough from scratch are above) into 2 equal halves and roll each half into a very thin sheet with a rolling pin. Make sure to have flour on hand and dust the working surface or rolling pan when necessary, because the dough will be sticky. It’s important that the ravioli dough be rolled very thinly (paper-thin), otherwise ravioli will be too solid when cooked, because dough expands during cooking. Also it will be really hard to use the ravioli mold if the dough is not thin enough.

  2. Once you rolled sheets of dough, shape individual raviolis. To shape ravioli, I use a very handy device, ravioli mould/tray, which works great! Step-by-step photos are above the recipe box.

  3. Here is how to use Ravioli mould:

    1) dust the working tray with flour

    2) lay a thin layer of pastry on the tray

    3) press in the holes

    4) fill the holes with the filling, without overfilling

    5) cover with another layer of ravioli dough, which should lay flat all the way across the mould

    6) using the rolling pins or your fingers, press, close and cut the ravioli

    7) overturn the tray to let the ravioli come out

  4. When you are done shaping ravioli, bring a big pot of water to boil, add ravioli and cook for 5 minutes, then drain. Or, alternatively, freeze ravioli until you’re ready to cook them.

How to make tomato cream sauce:
  1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Chop 2 tomatoes and garlic and add to the pan. Cook covered for about 10 minutes until tomatoes soften.

  2. Add white wine and chopped thyme. Bring to boil and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes until half of liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, let it cool for a bit.

  3. Then transfer to blender and puree the tomato mixture. Transfer the puree back to the pan, reheat to medium heat and add heavy cream. Stir until well incorporated.

  4. Cut each grape tomato in half and add all of them to the pan with the tomato cream sauce. Salt to taste and and more chopped thyme if needed. Cook for 5 more minutes.

  5. To serve, add cooked ravioli to the sauce at the last minute. Allow both ravioli and the sauce achieve same temperature. When serving on plates, garnish with thyme.

Recipe Notes

The recipe for ravioli dough makes enough to make dough for 12 raviolis, using the mold (ravioli mold makes 12 ravioli). 

Nutrition Facts
Spinach Ravioli with Ricotta Cheese Filling, in Tomato Cream Sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 508 Calories from Fat 261
% Daily Value*
Fat 29g45%
Saturated Fat 14g88%
Cholesterol 114mg38%
Sodium 767mg33%
Potassium 868mg25%
Carbohydrates 42g14%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 19g38%
Vitamin A 8638IU173%
Vitamin C 41mg50%
Calcium 366mg37%
Iron 5mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Filed Under: Cheese, Dinner, Parmesan, Pasta, Ravioli, Recipe, Ricotta, Spinach, Thyme, Tomatoes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Published: Oct 01, 2012 134 Comments

Follow Julia on Pinterest and Facebook to get more recipes and dinner ideas!

Please leave your comment and STAR RATING in the comments section below

Previous Post: « Slow Cooker Whole Chicken with Peaches and Capers
Next Post: Fresh plum kompot – a cold drink for a hot summer day »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sowji

    Dec 20, 2020 at 10:48 am

    I tried raviolis using your recipe, they turned out super delicious. Thank you!
    I made a few changes:
    Substituted egg with apple sauce for vegetarian version
    I didn’t have the ravioli mould or a pasta maker, so I rolled out small amounts of dough to make one ravioli at a time. It was time consuming but worth it.
    I replaced thyme with basil and also skipped the wine in the sauce.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 22, 2020 at 5:57 pm

      I am so glad you tried my ravioli recipes and enjoyed them! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to share your feedback – I really appreciate it!

      Reply
  2. Bryan

    Dec 18, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Very similar to our Italian family ravioli recipe with the exception of Italian breadcrumbs with the spinach and ricotta/Romano mix. This helps make the mix easier to work with. We will roll small balls of filling or use a melon baller. You can make a bunch of filling balls and place them in a bowl in the refrigerator when making a large batch. If you use frozen chopped spinach in the box, squeeze all the water out before adding to the pan to cook.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 22, 2020 at 7:33 pm

      Bryan, thank you so much for sharing your Italian family ravioli recipe and cooking tips. Very helpful!

      Reply
  3. PS

    Dec 03, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    Loved this combination! This ravioli also go well with marinara sauce.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 03, 2020 at 10:19 pm

      So glad you tried it and enjoyed it! 🙂 Thank you for the comment!

      Reply
  4. K

    Nov 30, 2020 at 11:25 am

    This sauce also works well with your sauce for ravioli – the mushroom sauce you used with goat cheese ravioli.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Nov 30, 2020 at 12:09 pm

      Yes, those sauces work well with all kinds of ravioli.

      Reply
  5. Amy

    Nov 22, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    Can the sauce be made ahead of time and reheated?

    Reply
    • Julia

      Nov 23, 2020 at 1:12 pm

      Yes, you can make the sauce ahead and reheat it!

      Reply
  6. Jackie

    Aug 25, 2020 at 1:46 pm

    This looks amazing. Is it possible to make the sauce ahead of time? Maybe the sauce base, and when ready to use reheat and add the cream?

    Reply
  7. Sydney

    Aug 17, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    Hi! This looks amazing! I was wondering if I need to drain the ricotta cheese?

    Reply
  8. Carin

    Aug 04, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    This was delicious, but I wouldn’t add cold cream to the hot tomato sauce again- it instantly looks grainy/curdled. (Still tastes good though.) Instead I’d add the cream to the slightly cooler sauces, and then slowly heat it all together. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Nov 21, 2020 at 12:52 am

      My mom always told me a little saying red into white makes it turn out alright! So don’t mix the cream to tomato, but add the tomato to the warm cream.

      Reply
  9. Z

    Jul 10, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    !

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Food blog, dinner recipes, weeknight dinners, chicken dinners, pasta recipesWelcome to my blog where I share easy-to-make weeknight dinner recipes!

Join me here:

Follow Us On PinterestFollow Us On FacebookFollow Us On InstagramFollow Us On Twitter

Footer

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Disclaimer | About | Featured On

Copyright © 2019 · All Rights Reserved · JuliasAlbum.com

FOODIE PRO THEME BY FEAST DESIGN CO. * POWERED BY THE GENESIS FRAMEWORK