With your favorite recipe for homemade pasta, you can make these simple cheese-stuffed raviolis. If your kids want to help, have them fill and seal the ravioli—little fingers are perfect for the job.

Fresh Spinach-and-Cheese-Stuffed Ravioli

For filling, in a medium bowl combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir in spinach leaves; set aside.  In a small bowl, combine egg and water; set aside.

After passing pasta through final round of pasta machine (or rolling to 1/16-inch-thick), cut rolled dough into 2-inch-wide strips. Do not allow pasta to dry.

To shape ravioli, brush strips lightly with egg mixture.  Place about 1 teaspoon filling at 1-inch intervals on one strip of dough. Lay a second strip of dough, brushed side down, over the first. Using your fingers, press the dough around each mound of filling so that the two moistened strips stick together. Cut dough between filling to make individual ravioli. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

To cook ravioli, in a large pot, bring a large amount of salted water to boiling. Gently drop one-fourth of the ravioli, one at a time, into the boiling water; stir to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Simmer gently for 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer ravioli to a serving dish.

Serve ravioli topped with marinara sauce and garnish with thyme, if desired.