In a large mixing bowl, heap your flour and spare a shallow in the center. Next, fill the little well with water and crack the egg (without letting any shell fragment in). Don’t forget the olive oil before you start mixing.
Claw bit after bit of flour to the crater so you can ensure the flour absorbs the wet ingredients evenly. Be patient until you obtain a gooey paste.
When you feel like it’s hard to move the mixing spoon, use your hand to push the edges to the center and knead with enough pressure. After all, we need the firm, stretchy texture!
Flour your work platform and diligently turn the dough over and over, until you obtain a sphere. Let it ferment for 30 minutes with a towel or cling film covering it. I recommend leaving it at room temperature, as cooling might result in more moisture and potentially soggy dough.
Make the sauce
Skin the ripe tomatoes and slice them into little dices with a sharp knife so you won’t have to grind and squeeze the juice out. While you are at it, chop the garlic cloves finely as well.
In a nonstick pan, melt the cube of butter and simmer it with garlic. Once you catch the smell, add tomato then water to dilute the sauce a little.
When the mixture bubbles, pour in tomato paste and tomato puree for consistency before flavoring the sauce with spice herbs.
Make the filling
Use a grater to get your Mozzarella cheese in fine crumbs and mix in an egg along with chopped parsley.
Mix in the rest of the spices as directed and cover your large bowl with a plastic wrapper. Let it rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Shape & Cook
Lay the dough on a floured board and flatten it with your rolling pin. The thinner the dough, the better, and thus we need to be very patient (unless you have a pasta machine). Start from the center and roll it back and forth, until the sheet is nearly paper-thin.
I mentally divided the sheet in half, yet you might actually draw a line for easier movement. Scoop the filling and put bits of it on one half, with a gap of your desired size in between (5 centimeters for me). Feeling lazy? Fill a piping bag with the stuffing and let it do the magic!
Fold the untouched dough over the other and use your cutter (or knife) to cut the sheet into even squares. Take your time with pressing the edges with a fork because we need to seal the dumplings very tightly.
Boil water in a saucepan and cook your ravioli in simmering water until you feel the dough soften. Let them dry before serving them on a dainty plate and topping them with the delicious tomato sauce (and mayhap a spice leaf!).
Notes
If you press the center of the dough ball and it springs back to the default state, the kneading is good enough!
When the cooking finishes depends on how you want the ravioli. The aforementioned agnolotti and raviolo should cook for 2 minutes and finish in the sauce. Meanwhile, lamb ravioli needs to be cooked the whole time then topped with sauce.
Freeze the ravioli on a baking sheet first and put them in a sealed container for months of storage.
