But homemade ravioli is certainly worth it. The difference between homemade ravioli made with pasta that has been made with Double Zero flour and store-bought ravioli is like night and day. The texture and mouthfeel that the Double Zero flour gives you is fantastic.

Dean Zanella is a friend of ours that is a chef in Chicago. He makes gnocchi that is unlike any gnocchi I have ever had. To me, most gnocchi are very heavy gut bombs. Dean’s gnocchi are light and airy. I asked him how he got them to be so light. He told me that it was his grandmother’s recipe from Italy and that he could tell me but would have to kill me to protect the secret. Fast forward 15 years and we visited Mama Agata, a chef on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Low and behold, her pasta made with Double Zero flour, produced the same light texture and mouthfeel as Dean’s grandmother’s recipe. Ever since then I have been making some pretty good ravioli.Chefs Harry Crane, Dean Zanella, John Hogan and Lucien Vendome

Making ravioli is a couple hour endeavor. It just takes time. You have to make the pasta dough. Then you have to make the filling. Then the process of making the pasta dough can get pretty tough. It is the kind of thing that if you do it regularly it gets easier. For me, I do it so infrequently, that there is a learning curve every time I make ravioli. It just isn’t easy. Then again, with a second snowstorm in a week, I have a couple hours to play with.

Cheese Ravioli In A Light Savory Herb Sauce

One little detail is that you need a pasta machine to make decent pasta. My brother-in-law Bob Hamilton gave us one 25 years ago. I used it a few times, but until I learned about Double Zero flour, using the machine was more trouble than it was worth. It sat in the attic for years but now it has been promoted to a kitchen shelf.

This story brings me back to a Bolognese sauce I had once at a hilltop castle in northern Italy in the 1990’s. It was amazing. I tried for years to replicate it without success. I thought that maybe it was the setting, the day, phase of the moon. Then I told the story to my favorite chef Lucien Vendome and he asked: Have you tried adding heavy cream? Voila!

My ravioli made with Double Zero flour isn’t easy to make, but pretty darned good. Try it with my Bolognese sauce made with heavy cream and you won’t be disappointed.

Bolognese Sauce

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