Pasta Fiasco

So last night we tried making the ravioli, mostly because I a) really wanted ravioli and b) really wanted to make pasta.  I came to one, single conclusion: I need a pasta maker.

I didn't go to BB&B on the way home as anticipated, so I didn't have the machine...oh well, I thought it couldn't possibly be that hard to roll out dough...right?  Oy.  Let me show you.

 First, I started with some nifty new tools...collapsible measuring cups!  Sweet!  They worked like a charm and look so cool while using them.  Bonus.

 I used this recipe to make the actual pasta dough. Now, when you read it, it makes it sound like a rather violent process...beating eggs isn't exactly a gentle thing (and I mean no Amelia Bedelia isms here...have you ever beaten an egg and kept it all within a 2 inch perimeter?  Me either.)

 Suffice it to say, the structural integrity of the flour "well" was not sound, and Nick had a small panic attack when I started shrieking about the walls being breached and enemy forces invading.  Then he held the bowl so I could scoop the mess (what I could) into it to continue the beatings.

 I wound up needing about 6 eggs and 4 cups of flour, since I lost some egg and was using large (not extra large) anyway.

 Eventually though, taadaa!! The first batch looked way better than later batches, ironically.  This stuff was springy and really hard to roll out...but oh well.

 I also got to use this nifty little thing, which my mom got me for my bridal shower.  It's a Smart Stick hand blender thingy with about a million attachments, all of which are useful for just about everything.

 Here's what the raviolis looked like in the end...a little more dumpling, a little less ravioli, as Nick put it.

And the final result.  It was tastier than you'd expect by looking at it lol.

A few minor changes to the recipe:
* I couldn't find canned pumpkin so I used canned yams instead.  SO GOOD.  I'll have to try that again sometime.
* I forgot to get sage, so I used Italian seasoning and nutmeg. Also, so good.
* For the sauce, I used smoked mozzarella instead of Gorgonzola...again, so good!
* The sauce looked a little lame with just milk and cheese, so I added the leftovers of the filling, which gave it a great flavor.

I'll bet sage would've been really good in this, so I'm tempted to try it again when I can make ravioli, not dumplings.  Overall, it was a nonfail.  We didn't have to order pizza, and we finished most of the meal.  I'll be shopping today. :-)