Homemade Ravioli Class Draws a Crowd at Library

Chef Rich Kanowsky came back to the last Wednesday to host another cooking class.

It was again a full house for his demonstration on how to make fresh homemade ravioli. Kanowsky, who recently left his position as executive sous chef for Hearst Publications in Manhattan, now focuses all his culinary attention on his catering business, Patchogue-based Kanobley Catering, which specializes in high-end restaurant style dining.

Chef Rich started with a presentation of how to make fresh pasta dough. While Chef Rich gave attendees each a package of ready-made dough, he demonstrated the process so they could make their own at home. The dough making process is too messy for the classroom setting and the gluten in the dough takes four hours to relax before it can be worked.

Making the dough requires: six cups of all purpose flour; six whole eggs; one tablespoon of olive oil; one tablespoon of heavy cream; and one teaspoon of kosher salt. “You can use all different kinds of flours – whole wheat, gluten free, etc. And you can also use a mixer if you’d like but I prefer to do it by hand – there’s just more love in it that way,” he said.

To make the dough you place five cups of flour on a clean, dry surface in a pile. Make a large hole (a well) in the middle, keeping the walls as high as possible. Crack the eggs in separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Place eggs in well with oil, cream and salt. Using a fork, slowly stir the egg mixture gradually into the flour, collapsing the well walls. The batter will start to form but be loose and sticky. Put in the remaining flour and incorporate it in while kneading the dough. Knead for 15 minutes by folding it over and pressing firmly. Dough should be shiny and smooth. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for four hours.

Once the participants rolled out their dough a bit, Chef Rich had each one come up front to put the dough through the rolling machine to save time. “The most important thing I can teach you is to make sure you put flour on the board but never on top of the dough,” he said.

After their dough was rolled, Chef Rich demonstrated different techniques to make the ravioli. Each attendee was given a pastry bag that they filled with a cheese ravioli filling (ricotta, eggs, parmesan, salt and pepper) that they piped onto their dough. Chef Rich showed how to make different shapes (round, hearts, folded). To stick the ravioli together, he painted the sides with egg.

Then everyone got their hands dirty, filling their ravioli, cutting them in shapes to take home for dinner. Most participants went home with more than a dozen of their own homemade ravioli.

Chef Rich told attendees to either cook their ravioli right away, or to store them in the freezer overnight, as the gluten doesn’t agree with refrigerator temperatures. He also provided them with recipes for regular cheese ravioli filling, spinach and cheese and mushroom and cheese, as well as a basic tomato sauce recipe.