Name: Homemade Ravioli with Lemon Ricotta Filling
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 batch of fresh homemade pasta dough; 250g (1 cup) whole milk ricotta; 40g (1/2 cup) parmesan or four cheese blend; Zest of 1/2 small lemon; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped; Salt and pepper to taste

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Learn how to make fresh homemade ravioli with my easy recipe for a simple dough and five cheese filling. Homemade Ravioli is the perfect dinner and activity for a date night or night in with friends!

homemade ravioli with a side salad and lots of extra cheese

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Homemade Five Cheese Ravioli

I’ve been making homemade pasta my whole life. I grew up in an Italian immigrant family, so my grandma has passed down her love of Italian cooking to me. The experience of making and eating homemade pasta is so nostalgic for me! Ravioli is also my absolute obsession from when I was young. We bought frozen ravioli (because my parents couldn’t keep up with my ravioli consumption for me to have homemade every day) and I’d basically eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could.

Why you’ll love this recipe

It’s so fun to make. Okay, maybe I’m biased because I’ve been making homemade pasta my whole life. But it’s truly fun to make, and it’s an activity to do with friends or for an at-home date night.
It’s cheesy. I use five cheeses in this ravioli filling, which tastes SO GOOD when the raviolis explode in your mouth.
It’s bright. I don’t often see lemon zest or juice added to ravioli filling recipes, but I’m obsessed! The lemon adds a bit of brightness to a dish that might otherwise feel heavy (because let’s face it, it’s literally cheese-filled carbs).

Ingredients for Homemade Ravioli

Flours: You’ll need 00 flour and semolina flour to make the perfect pasta dough. Don’t forget to read all about my guide to making homemade pasta dough before you get to work!
Eggs: Eggs are the other ingredient needed to make homemade pasta dough. Whole eggs work best for a ravioli recipe.
Ricotta: A classic filling for ravioli!
Four cheese blend: I bought my blend from Trader Joe’s but you can always just use Parmesan in its place, or truly any blend of parmesan, pecorino, asiago, mozzarella, mascarpone, or provolone.
Parsley: I like to use fresh parsley, but in a pinch you can use dried.
Lemon: Zest and juice are both used in this recipe, and it really adds so much brightness to the filling!

How to Make Homemade Ravioli

First, you’ll start by making pasta dough. You can pause here and start by reading my comprehensive guide to making homemade pasta dough. Then, come back here for a few additional tips on what to do with the dough before you make this stuffed pasta!

Make the dough: Go ahead and follow my pasta dough recipe. Once you get to the point where you’re letting your dough ball rest for 30-60 minutes, you’ll move on to making the filling.
Make the filling: Combine ricotta, four cheese blend, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix, then refrigerate while you roll out your pasta dough.
Roll the dough: Use a pasta maker to roll out the dough. Your machine may have different number settings. Mine goes from 1-7, with 1 being the widest setting and 1 being the thinnest. I’ve tested this recipe with the dough being as thin as my “3” setting and my “2” setting. Using 3 makes a thick, sturdy dough, which is best for long noodle shapes but a little too thick for a stuffed pasta like ravioli because the ratio of dough to filling was not great. So I recommend using a “2” setting, for dough that’s thin and pliable but still sturdy enough to hold filling at a more ideal ratio.
Prep the dough for filling: If your dough is a bit sticky, dust it with a little bit of extra semolina flour. Using a ravioli stamp, press it into the dough just enough to create an outline without cutting through the dough. This will give you a guide to work with when piping in your filling.
Add your filling to the dough: Remove your ricotta mixture from the refrigerator and put it in a piping bag or plastic bag and cut off the tip. Pipe about 1-1.5 tbsp of the mixture onto the sheet of pasta within your ravioli shape border.
Add another pasta sheet: Carefully place another sheet of pasta on top, making sure it covers all of the ricotta filling. Use your ravioli cutter to press each shape. You may need to twist the cutter and press hard for the shape to separate from the rest of the dough.
Repeat with excess dough: Ball up the excess dough and repeat the process of feeding the dough through your pasta maker to make new sheets of pasta. Repeat the process of stamping, filling, and cutting the ravioli.
Cook the pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then cook the pasta for 4-5 minutes. Reserve some pasta water if needed to combine with your sauce, then carefully drain the pasta. Add your favorite sauce (like my easy pomodoro) and enjoy!

A bowl full of ricotta, four cheeses, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice — Add ricotta, four cheese mixture, fresh parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt & pepper to a bowl.

Pasta dough being rolled through a tabletop pasta making machine! — Cut your dough into sections (for my dough with 2 eggs, i cut mine into sixths). Press the piece down flat and dust with some flour. Pass the dough through at the widest setting, then a medium setting, then your desired thinness setting.

Two sheets of fresh pasta dough with a heart-shaped ravioli cutter making imprints in the dough — Lay some sheets of pasta onto a cutting board. If you are using a ravioli stamp like mine, gently press the shape into the dough to create an outline to act as a guide for your filling.

A piping bag with ricotta ravioli mixture piping small mounts of filling onto pasta dough. — Remove the ricotta mixture from the refrigerator and add it into a piping bag. Pipe about 1 tbsp mixture to the center of your shape.

A sheet of pasta dough is placed on top of another sheet of dough with dollops of ravioli filling — Gently place another sheet of pasta dough on top, being sure to cover all of the ricotta dollops.

A heart-shaped ravioli cutter presses into pasta dough with ricotta filling to create heart-shaped ravioli. — Press your ravioli stamp into the pasta dough. You may need to twist the stamp a bit to cut through and seal your shape. Roll extra dough into a ball and pass it through your pasta machine again.

Heart-shaped ravioli cooking in a pot of boiling water — Salt a pot of boiling water, then gently drop your ravioli into the water. Cook for about 4-5 minutes.

How to serve homemade ravioli

This homemade ravioli is delicious with a simple pomodoro sauce. You can also cook these in browned butter with lots of parmesan. A homemade pesto would be delicious with these lemon-y ravioli, too!

Storing and Reheating

Freezer: If you want to freeze your ravioli for later use, spread them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Then place the ravioli in a large freezer storage bag. They’ll keep in the freezer for up to 1 month! To cook, they’ll need a few extra minutes of cook time if you’re cooking from frozen (about 7-8 minutes).
Refrigerator (uncooked): You don’t want to store uncooked ravioli in the refrigerator for longer than 3-4 hours because the filling will make the dough soggy and the dough will oxidize. Homemade ravioli is best cooked within a couple of hours of making it.
Refrigerator (cooked): I store sauced-up ravioli in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat it for up to 4-5 days. You can reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat in a pan with 1-2 tbsp water, or you can microwave until warmed through.

Tips for the Best Homemade Ravioli

Drain your ricotta. Okay, I don’t always do this because I don’t always have the best foresight. To drain store-bought ricotta, line a fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth and place your strainer over a bowl (making sure the bottom of the strainer doesn’t touch the bowl). Spoon the ricotta into the lined strainer over the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. This will yield a thicker ricotta for a less runny ravioli filling consistency.
Give yourself some space. This whole process can take up a lot of space. You need space for your pasta machine, your cutting board, multiple sheets of rolled pasta dough, space to make your filling, and space to put your filled and cut ravioli.
Make a schedule. You’ll want to start by prepping a sauce. I like to make a pomodoro and let it simmer for a couple of hours while I prep everything else. The next step is to make the pasta dough ball. Once you get to the 30-60 minute resting period, start on the ricotta mixture, then let it sit in the refrigerator while you roll the pasta dough sheets out. Once you’re done with the ravioli filling, set them on a parchment-lined baking tray. Then bring your water to a boil and prep anything else you plan to serve with your ravioli dinner, because these cook up super fast!
Check for leaks. Check the edges of the ravioli to ensure the dough is firmly pressed together. We don’t want ravioli leakage!
Skip the fancy tools: You don’t really need fancy ravioli stamps like me. You can even use an empty, clean ice tray and a sharp knife to mold, stuff, and cut your ravioli.

Equipment

Wooden cutting board
Sharp knife
Pasta machine (or KitchenAid attachments)
Mixing bowl
Piping bag or plastic sandwich bag
Ravioli cutter
Large pot