Review on Norpro Ravioli Maker With Press by Jason Fanney

If you have or plan to buy a pasta maker, this is a must have. I've had mine for a few weeks now and I've made ravioli with cheese and spinach which was amazing! The application is very simple: I rolled out strips of pasta, cut them into 4 x 12 inch rectangles using a plastic ruler and a pizza cutter, stacked them on top of each other and dusted them with some rice flour to stop them from sticking together. Simply place a piece of pasta on the metal base, press down on the dough with your fingers and place an egg carton-like plastic tray on top for you to press on. The dough will stretch a little and form a pocket into which you put the filling. Remove the plastic piece and stuff your little pockets with stuffing (it actually goes away pretty quickly). Then place another pasta rectangle on top and smooth it out with your hands. They recommend brushing the edges with egg mixture or water to seal the two pieces of pasta together, but I didn't find it necessary. I used a wooden rolling pin and rolled it back and forth a few times until I could see the metal edges of the ravioli on the bottom plate going through both layers of pasta dough. Then gently spread it apart - no additional incisions are needed. The first time I cooked 48 ravioli, none of them fell apart while cooking. By the way, it only takes about two minutes to cook. I preheated a large cast iron skillet, added some butter and olive oil, fresh basil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and using a slotted spoon, added the cooked ravioli directly to the hot skillet. I tossed them slightly - just long enough to coat the ravioli and toast/brown the edges of the pasta a bit for texture and flavor. They were absolutely delicious! The only thing to keep in mind is that if you need to make a large batch of ravioli, it's best to make them in batches of 12-18. Otherwise it will take too long for your water to boil again; and your hot pan won't overflow. Last but not least, the box it comes in is sturdy and great for storing the instrument. Everything you need is printed on the back: pasta and filling recipes, instructions and photos. I highly recommend it.