Welcomed Home with Some Fried Ravioli

Isn't that cute little whale-shaped ravioli adorable? I didn't plan it that way, and I tend to think that its the only one that turned out like that... but who cares! I might just go out and get all kinds of silly-shaped cookie cutters and get on with having all sorts of wild raviolis... bunny faces, shamrocks, tea cups, Abe Lincoln! Boowhahahahaaaa!

Ahem.

I'd asked my husband what he'd want to eat when he returned from his business trip a few weeks ago, and he requested these fried raviolis. I'd made them for our last two New Year's Day parties (and this last time, I forgot to photograph them until after everyone left!) The nice thing about these tasty little fellows is that they can be almost entirely prepared ahead of time. (Which makes them AWESOME for parties!) I was happy about his choice, too, because I knew that I could make them the night before - which would free up my time for fawning all over him! (Read: lay around and eat all the fancy Swiss chocolates he brought home!!!!!) (That, and a giant load of laundry!) Heh.


Strange shapes aside, one of my favorite things about frying ravioli is how they puff up. Something about their pillowy, crunchy-but-gooey goodness is so very dreamy. I am just as happy to pop them in my mouth as I am to sauce them - they're such a nice little snack on their own!

Don't get me wrong, the sauce is terrific, too! I almost always cheat and either use diced or crushed tomatoes in lieu of the whole ones. Unless it makes sense to, of course, I don't see the point in getting whole tomatoes just to take them out and cut them up. (Well, that and whenever I try to do so, I make an amazingly huge mess!) Even better still, I've been using fire-roasted tomatoes in place of normal. Feel free to mess around with YOUR tomatoes, too! :)

Maybe fried pasta doesn't float your boat? Head on over to Ruth's Presto Pasta Night Roundup and you'll be sure to find something delicious. (In fact, I'm positive you will!!) I am so excited for her - next week she'll be celebrating 52 straight weeks of pasta! (I can't think of a better way to spend a year!) Go Ruth!


Fried Ravioli with Hot Sausage Ragu
c/o Emeril Lagasse, 2001, via Food Network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_18204,00.html

Ravioli:
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated provolone
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 fresh pasta sheet, about 11 by 14-inches, cut into 2-inch squares (to make 32 squares)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
2 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Hot Sausage Ragu, recipe follows

In a bowl, combine the cheeses, egg yolk, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper and mix well.
Place 16 of the pasta squares on a lightly floured surface. Place about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into the center of each square. Lightly wet the edges with water with a fingertip, and top with a plain pasta square. Press to seal the edges.

Heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat.

Beat the egg with the water. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the Essence. Dip the ravioli in the egg wash and then into the bread crumbs, one at a time. Add in batches to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and serve hot with the Hot Sausage Ragu.

Hot Sausage Ragu:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage (or 1/4 pound hot sausage and 1/4 pound sweet sausage
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (15-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch sugar

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring, until brown and the fat is rendered, about 4 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, crushed red pepper salt, basil, oregano and black pepper, and bay leaf, and cook, stirring, until soft, 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, cream, and sugar, and stir well. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick and the flavors are blended, about 30 minutes, adding water as necessary to keep from getting too thick.

Remove from the heat, and cover until needed.

Yield: about 2 1/2 cups

See the recipe...

Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter

Obviously my brains have shut off... or else I would have posted this sooner... because we had it weeks ago! Maybe I saved it because all we were eating was pasta... wanted to spread it out... Except that that phase hasn't really stopped... we're still pasta-crazy! There are worse things to be.

Right. So. I won't lie, I made the ravioli some Sunday afternoon while the Mister watched football. Weeks ago. I might have had football on the radio, but its more likely I had my ipod going. I'm not sure what got into me, but I was in a mood, so I made my own dough and then rolled it out and then filled it. Oh wait, I know what it was... I got this multi-pack of cookie/biscuit cutters... (notice the cute little scalloped edge?)... Why make my own pasta when the recipe so happily calls for wonton wrappers? I don't like wonton-wrapper ravioli. I don't know if I'm just doing something wrong, but they come out all weird and squiggly... not my favorite. That, and I find the production of pasta to be soothing... all the repetitive actions... I can get lost in the process. And in the end, I had a big bag of ravioli for my freezer! Woo!

The ingredient list to flavor quotient was high. This dish was a breeze to prepare and tasted like it took me all day. I blistered the peppers on the stove and messed with them the evening before... popped them in the fridge until I needed them. Because of all that miscellaneous prep, this dinner was the ultimate fast food. Sauteed some veggies, browned some butter, boiled some water... bam bam bam, done and delicious. Yah, sure, I totally would eat my flip-flop if I tossed it in some brown butter... but still. You'll note that I left out the olives and chives... neither float my boat, and the meal didn't suffer for it.

I'm barely on time to submit this to the lovely Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for her Presto Pasta Night roundup this week... I can't wait to see what she has in store for us (now that I'm re-smitten with everything pasta!)


Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter
Bon Appetit, September 2007
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/239796

Bell peppers:
2 small red bell peppers
2 small yellow bell peppers
1 small green bell pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced seeded tomatoes
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Ravioli:
Cornmeal for sprinkling
8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for sprinkling
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons chopped assorted fresh herbs (such as basil, chives, mint, and tarragon)
18 wonton wrappers

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

Toasted pine nuts
Thinly sliced pitted Niçoise olives*
Chopped fresh chives

For bell peppers:
Char all peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Place in paper bag; seal and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Peel and seed peppers; chop.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and tomatoes and cook until onion begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cook until vegetables are very soft and onion is brown, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Add chopped peppers and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.

For ravioli:
Lightly sprinkle rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal. Mix 8 ounces goat cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, and next 2 ingredients in medium bowl. Arrange 6 wonton wrappers on work surface. Place 1 tablespoon cheese filling in center of each wrapper. Using fingertip, dampen edges of wrappers with water. Fold all 4 corners up to meet in center, forming pyramid shape; seal all 4 edges tightly. Pinch top to seal. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Cook butter in large skillet over medium heat until beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.

Cook ravioli in pot of gently boiling salted water until tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer ravioli to skillet with browned butter. Toss over medium heat.

Meanwhile, re-warm bell pepper mixture; divide among 6 plates. Using slotted spoon, top peppers on each plate with 3 ravioli. Drizzle with any remaining browned butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, olives, and chives.

*Brine-cured black olives; available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

See the recipe...

Grandpa Day #2 / Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto Pasta

Today marks the anniversary of my grandfather's passing, so we're having beans, franks, and potatoes for dinner. You've seen that already (but this time I got some hot dogs from the butcher) (my grandpa would have LOVED my butcher, btw), so I thought I might try to tempt you with a delicious pasta dinner we had earlier this week.

For this installment of Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast, my second in as many weeks (go me!), I give to you: Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto Pasta!!

I found this recipe in the August issue of Bon Appetit magazine... It isn't something that normally would have caught my eye, but belonging to our CSA and making regular trips to the farmer's market on weekends... we've had a lot of tomatoes in our house... so the lack of tomatoes really appealed to me. That, and I had a giant tub of ricotta in the fridge (from all those SBD-friendly desserts!)

See how there aren't multiple paragraphs of instructions? Its that easy. Process it all (in their order, of course) and boil some pasta, and you're done. Seriously. I wasn't sure I wanted to toss the whole bowl into the pasta (and I'm glad I didn't - more later), but I should have used more than I did. The moisture in the pesto was soaked up into the pasta itself, which make the whole thing really really sticky. On future helpings, I added more pesto, and it was fine. I almost want to compare it to the crumb layer in frosting... let the pasta soak up the first bit, add more and its perfect. Anyway... do what you'd like, the stickyness was a little weird, but it made it easier to cut and eat with a fork! ;)

The reason I'm glad I didn't use up all the sauce is this: Its awesome on a pizza! I went online to grab the recipe for the blog, and I saw that a reviewer suggested using the pesto on pizza - and since I'm currently in love with all things White Pizza, I had to try it out. I toasted a whole grain flat out wrap (thanks, Marcie!), then smeared the pesto on. I added a few spoonfuls of ricotta, and then put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. O my gawd. Its now become the only thing I want to eat anymore. If I had a toaster oven at work, I seriously could eat this every day of the week. No photo, and I'm sorry about that, but I'm sure you can all imagine it.

I still have all of the ingredients at home, so you betcha that I'm pulling them all out this weekend!

Hazelnut, Ricotta, and Lemon Pesto
Bon Appetit, August 2007
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/239059

This can be tossed with a pound of pasta (serve warm or chilled), used as a topping for grilled chicken, or spread onto toasted slices of baguette or focaccia.

Makes about 2 1/3 cups.

1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (from one 15-ounce container)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Fine sea salt

With processor running, drop garlic clove into machine and blend until finely chopped. Add hazelnuts, basil, and 2 tablespoons olive oil; process until hazelnuts and basil are finely chopped. Add ricotta cheese, lemon juice, lemon peel, and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil; process until well blended. Transfer mixture to small bowl and stir in Pecorino Romano cheese. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

See the recipe...

Lemon and Garlic Prawn Pasta

Thank goodness! It has been so long since we've had any new pasta for dinner, I was beginning to worry if I'd ever have anything to submit to the lovely Ruth! But here it is, from Donna Hay Magazine, my entry to Presto Pasta Night #30!!! Yay!!! (I remember being really frightened of turning 30, but PPN seems to be taking it in stride! Go Ruth!!)

Now, I've only been acquainted with all things Donna Hay since April of this year. I now have a couple of her books, and all of her magazines that have come out since. What I find interesting about her magazines is this: I feel like they are a secret weapon. Why? Well, because her magazines come out based on Australia's seasons... which are of course different from those had in the US... so I have to sit on them a few months before they're entirely applicable... so I have this stash of Future Recipes, seasonal and delicious, and all I have to do is wait! Yes, its an arsenal we all have access to... but... still.

Sure, I overcooked the pasta. It's been so long since we've had any pasta in the OPF Household, that I just wasn't thinking about the proper pasta timing. Considering how flavorful the rest of it was, the squishy pasta was easily overlooked. At least this time. ;)

I also forgot to add the garlic at the right time... I tossed it in at the same time I added the broth. The sauce didn't seem hurt by it, but I'll try it the right way next time and see which I like better. (Or if it makes that much of a difference.)

Mistakes aside, we loved this. LOVED this. It made a delightful dinner and a totally snazzy lunch the next day. We mostly get by with sandwiches for lunch, you know how it is, so its always really nice to have a warm, yummy lunch. Can't help but feel special.

Lemon and Garlic Prawn Pasta
Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 31

14 oz angel hair pasta
1 ¾ oz unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
14 oz prawns or ginormous shrimp
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fish stock
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup chopped green onions
1 cup basil leaves
shaved parmesan cheese to serve

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the butter, garlic, prawns, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through. Add the prawn mixture to the pasta with the lemon zest and juice, green onions and basil and toss to coat.

Top with the parmesan to serve.

Serves 4.

See the recipe...