Homemade Mushroom Ravioli

Since making this dish on Thursday night, I haven't stopped thinking about it. It was that good. And, it's not just me who liked them. After eating the raviolis my dinner guests went out and bought their own pasta maker!

Makes 16 1 and 1/2 inch round raviolis
Special equipment needed: pasta maker

Pasta
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water

Whisk together flour and salt. Place on a board and make a well in the middle. Add egg yolks, olive oil, and water. Using a fork, gently mix the liquids into the flour. When the dough comes together, form it into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. The dough should rest at room temperature for at least one hour. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight.

Filling
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 pound mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Sherry
1 cup ricotta
Salt and pepper

Finely mince onion and garlic. Finely chop mushrooms. Add olive oil to a medium-sized frying pan. Sweat onions and garlic in oil until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for five minutes, until mushrooms have cooked down to about half of their original volume. Deglaze the pan by adding the Sherry and using a wooden spoon or the tip of a pair of tongs to scrape all of the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Allow Sherry to evaporate. Remove from the heat. When cool, mix in ricotta and season with salt and pepper. Set aside until the ravioli is ready to stuff.

Forming the Ravioli
Cut the dough into four pieces. Following the instructions on your pasta maker, roll out one piece of dough at a time. (Note: To get the right thickness on my pasta maker, that mean rolling the dough to the second to last thickness.) On half of a sheet of pasta, add one tablespoon of filling every inch and a half. Fold the second half of the pasta over the filling. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Dip your fingers in water and press around the ravioli to seal the edges. Be sure that all of the air is removed from between the layers of pasta and no filling is poking through the edges, which can cause a "blow out."

Place ravioli on a baking sheet lined with a clean dishcloth. Sprinkle semolina flour or polenta to keep the raviolis from sticking. Cover with another clean dishcloth and set aside until ready to use. The raviolis can also be frozen at this point.

To cook, bring 2 quarts of well-salted water to a boil. Place raviolis in the water and cook for four minuets. Drain.

Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Pepper

Return ravioli to the pot. Add butter, olive oil, and parsley. Gently toss until all of the ravioli is coated. Place in serving dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Season with pepper.