Friday, August 7, 2009

I made Ravioli!!!

As I have become more comfortable in the kitchen, I've branched out to making things that I believed to be more challenging.  Homemade pasta was something I put off for a long time.... thus, ravioli was even more delayed.  But, I was up for a kitchen challenge this week, and my conclusion: Don't be intimidated by making ravioli... it was easy!

Not to mention, it was delicious.



There are two parts to this recipe -- the dough and the filling. Prepare the filling first, and then the dough, because the filling needs to chill before using.

Homemade Ravioli - Modified from Effortless Savings

Filling

1 C ricotta cheese (well drained)
1 C spinach (we used 1/2 of a frozen package)
1 egg white (save the yolk!)
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Saute mushrooms and spinach over medium heat until mushrooms are tender and spinach is warmed.  Season with a little salt and pepper. 



Place sauteed veggies in a bowl, and add to that the cheeses, and egg.



Season with additional salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.



Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Did I mention these are really good?

Dough

4 eggs (that is, 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk from the filling recipe)
3 C flour
1/2 C water

Combine ingredients in your mixer and knead until dough is formed.  (You can knead by hand as well).  Lightly flour a work-surface and remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the work surface.  Cover and allow the dough to sit for 10ish minutes (the dough becomes easier to work with the longer you let it sit).



I found it easier to cut the dough in half and work with half of it at a time.

Roll the dough out as thin as you can make it.  Less than 1/8 inch is desirable.



Using a pizza cutter, cut squares/rectangles into the dough that are roughly 2-inches by 2-inches.  I found that it's better to make them wide than long.


(see, these were really too narrow -- I ended up having to stretch them wider).

Using a 1 tsp. measuring spoon, place 1 tsp-ish full of filling onto the dough squares.



Place an empty dough square over the top, and press to seal the edges. Use a fork to seal tightly.



Filling these babies took roughly a 1/2 hour... and there were about 40 of them by the time I was done.

Did I mention they're worth it?

Bring salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli and boil for about 15 minutes. The ravioli will begin to float when they are close to done.



Place ravioli on a plate, and top with your favorite spaghetti sauce.





Or, use in a delicious bake -- like the roasted pepper tortellini bake!

Did I mention these are delicious?!



This recipe made ~40 ravioli.  A good serving size for me was 4-5; Frog Prince enjoyed more.  We made ~17 for dinner, and had enough leftovers for a second meal.  The others I set on a plate and flash froze for about 20-30 minutes before removing from the plate and placing in a Ziploc bag for a quick and easy freezer-meal dinner.  

According to Effortless Savings, making a batch of these is roughly $3.21.  This will give us roughly 4 meals.  Tasty, easy and cheap -- awesome.

This is linked up to: Recipe Swap with Grocery Cart Challenge, Foodie FridayFriday FeastsIngredient Spotlight

16 comments:

  1. these look AWESOME!!! i wonder how the frozen ones will reheat...

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  2. You totally rock! I've never even thought about making homemade pasta, yet alone attempted the task. This looks delicious!

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  3. This looks so good and easy.

    I think this will be a great recipe to try - after my vacation. An early fall project in my kitchen is in order. I love the recipes you have been posting.

    Thanks

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  4. These look absolutely to die for!!!!

    We used to have a fab restaurant that made different kinds of ravoili. They even had a Ravioli of the Day. And then they went and closed. Very sad....

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  5. I am reading this and just dreaming of all the fun we could have together!

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  6. Your recipe sounds awesome and easy. I alway thought making your own pasta would be hard. THANKS!!! Geri

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  7. Adding this to my list of things to make and freeze. Thanks!

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  8. I have never made that filling before, but it looks really good! We make raviolis by the 100 for Christmas every year and usually just do a plain cheese as everyone protests when we try new ones! I have invested in a ravioli form and a pasta roller, so it makes it really easy and I know I should do it more often, at least that is what I think every Christmas! We always freeze ours and boil them for Christmas and they are so good!

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  9. Wow, those look great! Earlier this week Sandra Lee(Semi-Homemade) had Fried Ravioli with dipping sauce. It looked really good.
    Thanks for sharing!
    ~Liz

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  10. Your ravioli looks wonderful!! I'm pretty good in the kitchen, but homemade pasta? Never gone there, lol.

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  11. You've done a great job here. Everything looks scrumptious and your cost savings are near amazing. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

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  12. I agree that it is so economical to make your own and you can freeze what you do not use the first day. In my home we rarely have leftovers:)
    Joyce

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  13. That looks really good. You have inspired me to try my hand at homemade ravioli.

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  14. You're such an inspiration in my kitchen! I made these for my sweet husband and he was so impressed and loved them so much that he asked me to make them again a couple of days later and we even shared some with another family. I added broccoli to our second batch in place of the spinach, and it was really tasty, too.

    I just found your bean brownies recipe, and we CAN'T WAIT to try it. My husband is really excited--we had brownies last week (from a box) and they didn't last long, but they're such a 'guilty pleasure.' Now we can eat them a LOT more and consider it our protein serving for a meal, right? ;)

    Thanks for all of the time you put into your beautiful posts and thorough descriptions & photos.

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.

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