Baked Crab Ravioli with Tomato Cream Sauce

This was an ambitious dish for us, but I'm happy to say that it turned out really well. Since I'm sick (cough, cough), Jason did all the cooking, so I guess he should get the credit.

We combined two different recipes so we had some trouble figuring out how much pasta and sauce to make for a certain amount of filling. I'm going to post the recipes in their original quantities, but we doubled the crab filling (because we had a whole pound of crab), we increased the pasta recipe by 50% and then ended up having to make another batch at the regular quantity, and we doubled the sauce.

The pasta didn't seem to roll out as big as the recipe indicated, but maybe that's because we didn't use a pasta maker. We were able to roll it really thin though, so I'm not sure how a pasta maker would have made a difference.

Baked Crab Ravioli with Tomato Cream Sauce

Pasta

1 1/2 c flour
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 T water

1) In a food processor, blend all ingredients until the dough forms a ball.
2) Process for 15 seconds longer, to knead. (My food processor didn't seem capable of ball-forming and kneading.)
3) Transfer to a flour surface and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl, for one hour.

Filling

1/2 lb lump crab meat
2 T red peppers, minced
2 T red onion, minced
1 c parmesan, grated
1 T basil, chopped
2 T bread crumbs
2 T heavy cream

1) Combine all ingredients.
2) Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Sauce

1 T unsalted butter
2 T red pepper, minced
2 T red onion, minced
3/4 c tomatoes, diced
1/4 c water
1/3 c heavy cream
1/2 c parmesan, grated

1) Melt butter in a medium skillet; saute peppers and onion until tender.
2) Add tomatoes and water and simmer for 5 mins.
3) Prepare but the rest of the ingredients, but don't add them yet.

Assembly

1) Divide dough into 4 pieces.
2) On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 24" x 4" rectangle (we couldn't get anywhere close to this size).
3) Drop 6 (1 1/2 tsp) mounds 1 1/2" apart down the center of one half of the sheet.
4) Brush egg wash (1 egg white mixed with 2 T water) around each mound and then fold the other half of the sheet over the filling.
5) Press down firmly around each mound, forcing out air.
6) Cut pasta (between mounds) into squares; lay on a lightly floured kitchen towel.
7) Repeat with the other 3 pieces of dough.
8) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and gently drop in ravioli.
9) Cook until the pasta is tender, about 6 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a colander.
10) Put half of the ravioli in a baking dish; top with half of tomato sauce, half of the cream and half of the cheese.
11) Repeat with the remaining ravioli, sauce, cream and cheese.
12) Bake, uncovered, until the sauce is bubbly, about 15 mins.