Homemade Ravioli

Homemade Ravioli

~ Lasagna Style ~

For those of you who may know me personally...you'll know I love anything Italian - the culture, language, people, food - you name it and I'm there! So, naturally, I love making pasta and I've been dying to make homemade ravioli!!

So, I planned a Grammy-Granddaughter day and that's exactly what we did. With Grammy as my sous chef (keeping the kitchen nice and clean as I constantly produced a mess), we made homemade ravioli! And the best part (besides eating it)? It was so easy!!

Now, there are tons of recipes in this internet-world of ours for homemade pasta dough, cheese fillings, sauces - I say just find one you like and go for it! I used a Taste of Home recipe, found here (or at the bottom of this post), for the dough part. That being said, 6 cups of flour, 6 eggs, 3/4 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and 8-10 minutes of kneading later, (and quite a work-out, let me tell you!) and we had perfect dough! I realize some dough recipes can be kneaded in the mixer, or made and rolled through special attachments/devices. I, however, wanted to get right to the roots of this Italian dish and do it by hand! (But you, my dears, can choose whichever method you prefer.)

Making the dough

Working with this dough was so nice!! As a note, I cut the dough into eighths before rolling it, so I could get nice, thin sheets to cut with my ravioli cutter. (Yes, I used a pastry/ravioli cutter and not a stamp or press. I feared dough sticking to a press and wanted to break out my new cutter.)

As for my filling, I did not follow a recipe. Instead, I let the 'Posh' be my guide, as I combined part-skim ricotta cheese with spinach, a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese, a few shakes of grated Parmesan, and a whole mess of Italian seasonings (plus garlic salt and pepper). A few taste tests later and it was ready to go!

So, onto a lightly dampened square of dough goes a heaping teaspoonful of filling, before being sandwiched by another damp square. Press the edges of the two squares together and viola! 

Ravioli!

Okay, I know I'm making it seem way too easy here...This is where it's nice to have a second pair of hands (thank you Grammy!) because this recipe makes a lot of ravioli. (I want to say we ended up with 46...) And it is a bit messy. You see, I have a slight tendency to overfill things, and when it comes to sealing the edges... let's just say perfection is for machines! I like the look of cheesy goodness oozing from the sides - it means there's actually more to the ravioli than just pasta with a little dollop of cheese! (At least that's my reason and I'm sticking to it.)

So, 46 ravioli and another mess in the kitchen later, and they were ready for boiling! I boiled about 6 at a time for two minutes (or until they floated to the top of the water) and it couldn't have been any easier! Even the few which may not have been sealed the best because of an excess of filling (hehe) boiled perfectly, totally keeping their shape! Now, you can stop here and serve with sauce, bake/fry them, devour as is - the choice is yours! Seeing as this Grammy-Granddaughter day should end with a nice, complete dinner, I layered the ravioli into a 13x9 pan and made them into ravioli - lasagna style!

If you think making lasagna is easy (and even if you don't and think it's the most time consuming thing in the world) - ravioli lasagna is WICKED EASY! I'm not even kidding! There's no sticky lasagna noodles, no smearing of the ricotta mixture, no forgetting a layer, and serving is a breeze! Being 3 layers deep, each serving held 3 perfect ravioli! (Leaving plenty of room for seconds and thirds, of course.)

Also, each ravioli fit across the pan perfectly, and as for the sauce - the recipes are endless. There is a recipe for sauce, located here, or you can use your own. Perhaps you want to keep it easy and buy a jar of sauce? Do whatever works for you! I made my own sauce, again letting the 'Posh' be my guide, as I guessed on the measurements and seasonings, and it came out great! Unless you're my mom and want the recipe...

Mom:   "Wow! This is the best sauce I've ever had! You have to give me your recipe!"

Me:       "Uh...my recipe... about a handful of this, a scoop of that... maybe some more of this..."

Mom:   "Yeah. Thanks."

Needless to say, the ravioli was a big hit! (No one leaves this house hungry, that's for sure!) Served with a fresh green salad and homemade rolls, our Italian dinner, and a fantastic Grammy-Granddaughter day, was complete! 

So, if you have the time, because this recipe does take a bit of time, or you want to try your hand at homemade pasta - this is a great place to start! The recipe for this dreamy, easy to work-with dough can be found again here, and poshed in so many ways! Next, I'd like to try a butternut squash filling in a creamy white sauce, or serve the ravioli baked, with marinara sauce on the side! 

Or, perhaps you'd like to try this 'ravioli lasagna-style' with your favorite fresh/frozen ravioli from the store, some sauce and cheese. It makes for an easy, Italian dish I'm sure you'll love! Keep it posh, my friends! 

With love (for food),

Ellen

-- A dash of posh can make all the difference in your next dish! --

(Make Your Own) Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad - YOUR way!

It's finally hot outside! (and humid...let's not forget that.) All the same, I'm loving every warm, sunny day! Now, during a hard (hot) day of baking and yard work, I was in the mood for a colorful, cold pasta salad - but oh what kind do I make!? How much dressing? How many veggies? How much pasta!? Well, lucky for you, I have already fretted over these questions, and after much estimating (and Pinterest pasta salad recipe searching), I've got a great base recipe for pasta salad! I'll show you how I made my pasta salad, with what was in my "fridge-of-goodies," and explain how you can transform this to make your own pasta salad!


First thing's first - you must assess your ingredients! Use whatever veggies you have on hand, any pasta you find in the pantry - even dare to make it a twist on leftovers! (Plus, there's no need to go out and buy an entire pack of bell peppers if you're only going to use 1/2 cup, or a zucchini if you only need half. See what's hiding in that vegetable drawer, first!) Below are the ingredients I had on hand, cut up and ready to go!

With pasta salad, practically anything goes! It's a canvas for true creativity and posh. For example, you could go vegetarian and substitute beans or eggs for the tuna. Perhaps you have leftover ham or turkey in the fridge? Chop it up and toss it in! You could even try adding fresh dill and cucumbers! (My mind is racing with ideas before my fingers can type now...) If you find your salad is too dry, whip up some more dressing or simply drizzle the salad with a bit more olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper. *I usually use garlic salt in cooking because it tends to add a great hint of flavor. Of course, this does not apply to baking (Yum.. garlic-y chocolate chip cookies - no thanks!)

*As a tip, do not rinse the pasta with cold water to 'chill' it faster for the salad. Doing so could prevent the dressing from properly sticking to the pasta. (No one wants slippery, unflavored pasta, right?) I'd recommend making this salad in advance and keeping it in the fridge until serving (overnight would be ideal, plus then the flavors have time to become better acquainted...) Of course, making it up for that day's lunch may require some quick 'freezing' an hour or so beforehand.

Can we also take a moment to appreciate how colorful and healthy this pasta salad is? Full of veggies, grains, a small bit of healthy fats (from the dressing), those beautiful herbs... (and all topped with a bit of 'posh!' - what more could you possibly ask of a simple salad like this!?) So, next time it's hot and humid, and you're in the mood for a refreshing lunch (or even a side dish to dinner), see what you have for leftovers and create! Make your own pasta salad, and don't forget the posh!

With love (for food),

Ellen

--A dash of posh can make all the difference in your next dish!--

Homemade Fettuccine - Pasta from Scratch!

What began as a heap of flour, eggs, and oil soon became a wonderful homemade fettuccine dish! Pasta entirely from scratch! Don't be scared now, it was so easy! And much tastier than that boxed pasta we all know (and love perhaps a little too much).

It's been a couple of days since I made this for dinner, and my parents are still raving about it! I can already tell I'm going to be making it again very soon.. it was that good! Unlike dried pasta, this fresh dough had so much more flavor, each noodle had great texture, and after 2 minutes in boiling water, it was perfect! (But we'll get to that part.)

"Making Homemade Pasta" This can be a scary, almost intimidating phrase to anyone. Immediately, you may be thinking "I don't have time for that," "I need some sort of machine," or "Why not just buy it?" To that I say... no excuses!! I've wanted to make homemade pasta for so long and while reading through my latest Taste of Home magazine, I found the perfect recipe for fettuccine. No fancy machines required! So here, I'd like to walk you through making this homemade pasta step by step, with help from the Taste of Home recipe. It is totally worth each and every (simple) step!

First, we need to make the dough. There's only 8 ingredients! We start by whisking together 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper (number 1, above). Next, I put my 1-1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of semolina flour on the counter. (I found semolina flour at Hannaford in the baking aisle. The package was completely vacuum-sealed - wicked cool!) I mixed together the flour right on the counter, made a well in the center, and poured in the egg mixture. This is where things got messy... so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND adding a little egg mixture at a time to the flour, and mixing it with your fingers until it is all incorporated. This will ensure the egg does not ooze beyond the flour and across the counter as you frantically try to catch it with your arms and keep it from diving off the edge.. (not that this happened to me, of course.. I just want to make you aware of what could happen.)

Once the dough is formed, shape it into a ball and place it on a lightly floured surface, seen in number 3. *To keep the counters clean and the dough from sticking as much, I recommend using a towel dusted with flour when working with any breads or dough. It makes forming them into a ball (and cleaning up later) a breeze! Next, cut the dough into 6 wedges, and roll each into a cute little ball. Then, cover with plastic wrap (I hate plastic wrap by the way.. I made this on the same day as my strawberry lemon cake batter frozen yogurt and my plastic wrap mishap, which is a whole different story!) After letting these rest for about 30 minutes, it's time to form the pasta!

Using a well floured rolling pin, form each ball into an 8" x 10" 'shape', and roll into a tube (jelly-roll style). Cut into 1/4" strips and unroll the spirals for fettuccine! *This is the most time-consuming part of the recipe. It took me (and my mom) forever to unroll each piece! So, in a moment of genius, I decided to skip these last two steps, and cut the strips out of the flattened 8" x 10" shape. Of course, this "aha!" moment only came when rolling out the second to last ball of dough.. Just have patience when cutting the long strips to ensure they are even. Now, the final step is to cook the pasta. (Then, we smother it in sauce!)

I added about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the water and boiled the pasta for 2 minutes, drained it, and stirred it into the sauce. That's all there is to it! Now, for the sauce... it wasn't anything too fancy. Since the star of this dish was the pasta, I had no objections to using prepared alfredo sauce - jazzed up with some personal posh, of course! With no precise measurements (let the smell and taste be your guide), I added some Parmesan cheese, milk, and spices to a jar of 3 cheese sauce. I also added some veggies, as seen below. 

Simmer the asparagus in the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until it's fork tender. Then, add the squash and zucchini, (when you julienne them, keep the skins, and don't include the seeds) and keep the mixture hot on the stove until the pasta is cooked and drained. Stir, plate, posh it up (I used some fresh basil from my newly planted herb garden), and enjoy your homemade pasta dish!

It's INCREDIBLE! The pasta has great flavor and texture, it soaks up the sauce, and makes a wonderful, hearty dinner! You have to try it! Don't be afraid to try something new, and get a little messy in the kitchen! This pasta has endless possibilities! What kind of sauce would you pair with it? How would you cut it to make fettuccine? Spaghetti, perhaps? And what kind of posh would you add?! 

With love (for food),

Ellen

--A dash of posh can make all the difference in your next dish!--