Homemade Ravioli, and Final Review for Dave's Gourmet

The final pasta sauce i've been lucky to try from Dave's Gourmet is the Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. I don't think i can choose a favorite between this sauce, the Organic Red Heirloom or the Masala Marinara they are all so good and unique! I paired the butternut squash sauce with some homemade ravioli filled with mushrooms and ricotta. So. Good.

Making homemade ravioli does take some time, but it's so rewarding and delicious. The method is easy, just a bit time consuming and much quicker with an extra set of helping hands. I filled the ravioli with chard, onions and fresh herbs from the garden, finely diced mushrooms, garlic and some white wine. Simmer this mix until most the liquid is evaporated and mix with ricotta and season as needed. For the pasta, i mixed 4 or 5 eggs with about 3 cups flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp olive oil. Mix until well integrated (it can be tough to knead!), divide into 4 or so chunks and let rest for 30 minutes (while you cook the filling). Once the dough has rested it will be easier to roll. I have a pasta maker which really makes the rolling easier. The key is to roll the pasta through about 4 times each chunk at the widest setting before beginning to decrease the thickness. Keep the pasta from drying out by laying out on a very lightly dampened towel and working quickly. The pasta rests sufficiently in the time it takes to get from the first strip to the last and back again. Once you have several uniformish strips, cut with a pizza cutter and form raviolis thusly:

Lay the raviolis on a floury surface and be sure they don't stick together by sprinkling a bit of flour on the table when you're shaping them. Use a bit of water on the inside to help the pasta stick to itself and be sure to press both sides of the pasta with the fork. When you're ready for dinner bring a bit pot of water to a boil with salt and toss those raviolis in. Let the water come back to a boil and serve. It will take some time and the raviolis will want to leap from the pot.

I invited one of my best friends and her man friend over to join in on the feast and they brought along a lovely salad with things from their garden. It was a truly delicious meal and seemed to be enjoyed by all parties. The butternut squash sauce is really interesting tasting. It's sweeter than tomato only sauce, but also tomatoey and tangy with hints of spices i couldn't peg my finger on. I highly recommend the sauce, and recommend making ravioli with friends - it's so fun to make a meal from scratch and share it with loved ones. Sharing really makes the time and effort much more rewarding.

What's your favorite meal to make with/for friends?

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

I could have kept eating and eating and eating last night. And i did.
I had some leftover pasta when i made lasagna the other day which i cut into fettucini noodles and dried out to be another night's dinner. I also had some leftover roasted tomato that didn't make it into the lasagna's sauce. I combined these things, along with leftover veggies in the fridge and freezer and the ricotta i had from making mozzerella to become a most decadent and delicious meal. Here's the jist:

• Fettuccine noodles made with whole wheat flour, salt, dried basil and truffle oil
• Dried noodles took about 5 minutes to cook in salted boiling water
• Delicious sauce
• Roasted tomatoes



All stirred up and saucy-delicious

• Tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, olive oil roasted at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until caramelized
• Fresh tomatoes - blend the tomatoes together in a blender then put into a pot to begin heating up
• One diced onions
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• Drizzled truffle oil
• Chopped zuccini
• Chopped mushroom
• Diced roasted or fresh hot peppers
• Dried basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage (or any fresh, low fat chicken sausage)
• Fresh ricotta cheese

You could swap in about any veg you wanted to this sauce and could even use canned tomatoes, a staple for dinners around here (but i'm so thankful for some fresh ones this season). I added the squash and mushrooms at two different times to have some that were mushy and some with some shape left.  Note that i have given no amounts on the tomatoes or ricotta. I had about half a pint of roasted tomatoes on hand and added 3 normal sized tomatoes. I think there was about a half cup of ricotta from my mozz making. I tried to make the amount of sauce that would be good for two guilt-fully eating adults. Could have fed two plus a kiddo, or three with a side salad. The only thing that's important on how this sauce was made is to wait until the very end to add the ricotta so that it doesn't boil. Wait until everything is cooked to your liking and turn down the heat to low before stirring in the cheese.

Fresh noodles piled high with delicious!

I have never been able to eat cream sauces due to my inability to eat pasteurized milk. This homemade ricotta was from raw milk and was very moist since i only drained it for an hour or so. Perfect for adding to a sauce and digestable for me. Every last bit was lapped up by finger or tongue! That's how we roll in this house: if the food tastes good, you darn well better lick your plate!

Lasagna From Scratch

When i was growing up, my mom would always make a big lasagna if we were expecting house guests. It was easy to put together and fed a bunch of folks for at least two meals.

The four of us almost finished the lasagna i made last night!


I was lucky to have two of our very favorite friends over for dinner last night and spent the day preparing a fresh lasagna for the four of us marrieds to enjoy. My friend brought over some fresh lettuce and heirloom tomatoes that i whipped into a salad and a meal was made (plus delicious wine, of course). Now, i must admit i pretty much literally spent all day on this meal. I could have divided the chores into several days, but i like to commit a day to cooking every once in a while and Monday is the perfect day for that, if you ask me. Get me in an apron with some dance music (i admit it was a compilation of Britney and some other beat driven music) blasting and i'm a happy girl!

My day started with finishing off some great artwork and then packaging it all up to be shipped while making mozzarella using this recipe and a gallon of raw milk. I finally own good rubber gloves so i was able to do the stretching in steamy hot, salted water. The mozz turned out well, not as fine as some recipes but perfect for shredding, which is what i needed for the lasagna anyway. I also made a batch of ricotta with the leftover whey and got a really nice yield. We'll be using that with the extra pasta i had tomorrow night.

Once the mozz was made, the ricotta draining and the artwork shipped, i started on the pasta. I used 2 cups white whole wheat flour with four eggs some salt and ground basil. Mix well, knead it up and start rolling in batches. To get really good pasta you have to have PATIENCE and a lot of time. Each batch of pasta is rolled out on the widest settting at least 4 or more times before you start thinning it down and shaping it. Lasagna is easy as you don't have to cut noodles, but getting the wide noodles rectangular is a struggle on its own. The pasta turned out great and cooked in 3 minutes in salted, oiled water.

My workspace

This is where the timing got tricky. I didn't cook all the lasagna noodles and saved some to the side to be cut into fettucini that is drying in the kitchen presently. I cooked just the right amount somehow, pulling the cooked noodles out into a bowl of ice water for safe keeping. During the rolling and resting pasta phase i also sauteed some veggies (mushrooms and greens from the garden -chives, chard, broccoli greens, kale- with some truffle oil and red wine) and thinly sliced some zucchini. I blended up the pasta sauce using garden tomatoes that i'd roasted with garlic, onions, salt and olive oil the last two nights or so in two batches. That was one awkward sentence- that's how my whole day felt yesterday! But it somehow all came together. The ricotta layer was mixed ricotta (store bought) garlic, salt, pepper, fresh basil and one egg. I cooked the pasta last once all these other things were ready and layered up the lasagna.

I used this fancy pan someone gave us for our wedding, and i'm afraid it held the chill of the refrigerator more than i'd like. I probably should have set it out to warm before sticking it in the oven, or cooked it all longer while covered. It tasted delicious but was a bit moist still - i might try drying the noodles better next time when layering. Hey, it was my first lasagna ever. And we all agreed - it tasted different than lasagnas we're used to, in a good way. The fresh ingredients were delicious and lighter than store bought Prego, Ragu, and boxed dried noodles. The noodles were way thinner, for one thing and the fresh sauce and veggie layer felt less heavy too. We each had two pieces and walked away feeling great rather than catatonic.

Spending a whole day preparing a meal for friends may not be in everyone's schedule capacity, but if it is - do it! Very gratifying.... Though it is sad to see that labor of love scarfed up in a matter of minutes. Nah, it's not sad.
It's delicious.

Friday Friday: Last Chance to Win FREE HOMEMADE PASTA!

Hello all.

Today is your last chance to enter my drawing to win a batch of fresh, homemade pasta. Please visit the original post and enter your comment for your chance to win.

I am off biking and participating in music listening shennanagins all day today for South By Southwest Music Festival, but will do my best to post the winner either tonight, Saturday, or maybe Sunday if hte shennanagins keep me out as late as i think they might.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Miranda

PASTA PASTA PASTA **GIVEAWAY**

As promised, the pasta giveaway is here.
One batch of whole wheat pasta made with backyard fresh, organic, free range eggs and optional garlic and herb flavoring could be yours!

A local winner could swing by 'the farm' next Monday for uber fresh pasta, and out of towners would receive their pasta dried and in the mail.
I can't guarantee that pasta that is shipped in the mail arrives nice and unbroken, but i'll package it up as carefully as i can.

For your chance to win simply comment on this blog post with a link to your favorite (easy) bread recipe or visit my online portfolio/shop and let me know what your favorite image is. 

Special favors will not be granted to folks who forward those links to a few friends, but you'll make me a little happy :)

Have a wonderful week, and check back on Friday to find out who the winner is!

My New Pasta Maker, A Review (*Pasta Giveaway on Monday!*)

Time to test out the new pasta maker, enjoy some delicious food, and write up my opinion of this device's functionality.
Also, get ready to enter to win a pound of freshly made pasta: Giveaway starts Monday, so come on back!

The things i'll be judging this little machine on will be

• Ease of setup
• Ease of initial 'dough into machine at the widest setting'
• Ease of level adjustment
• Effectiveness of dough pull through
• Satistfaction with thinness of pasta
• Ease of the fettuccine cutting attachment
• Finally - was it a joy or a burden to use: will i be using this often, or will i prefer to roll out the dough on the counter and cut by hand

And the results are in! sort of. I am giving this machine the benefit of the (i have no idea what i'm doing) doubt. My first batch of pasta was lumpy and gross: because i didn't blanch the spinach enough and it caused all sorts of crumbly problems. My second batch, sans spinach, did just great though - and i can see getting better and better at the use of this machine and being quite delighted with it.

Ease of setup:
Couldn't be easier. Clamp to the counter, stick on the crank, away you go. Attachment slides easily on.
Cons: crank falls out too easily. 1-2 dents on floor already counted. Width adjustment is not obvious - i couldn't tell based on numbers on the dial where i was really setting it, ended up adjusting by eye based on how large the little gap looked.    -   9

Ease of 'dough into machine':
No problem. Once i figured out that i needed to pat a little flour on each side of the dough and squish it down into a rectangle and aim it in wide end to gap, it worked great.    - 9

Ease of level Adjustment:
Again, this was where i got the most irritated. Hard to tell what level i'm setting the width to, dial doesn't slide easily from level to level, it's hard to tell how i'm supposed to actually change the settings, and the instructions do not explain.    - 7

Effectiveness of dough pull through:
The spinach one: terrible. Broke apart, lots of little tears. The plain: pretty easy. Still a few tears but i think that's learning curve. The first few times through are harder, but as the dough is kneaded further it cranks through more easily.   -  9

 Sorry it's out of focus: my fingers were covered in dough.

Satisfaction with thinness:
Great. I found it more difficult to handle as it got thinner, but the plain pasta got nice and thin. We'll see how it cooks up.   - 9

Ease of cutting attachment:
Easier than i thought it would be. No good for the lumpy spinach, but worked really well for the plain. The spaghetti turned out evenly cut and professional looking. I will definitely be using this to roll out all my pasta - but may choose to cut some by hand versus using the attachment. It's definitely a kitchen helper and not a burden  - 10

Overall Satisfaction:
Very satisfied.   If you average my ratings this machine gets a high B. I'm sure my satisfaction will grow as i get used to using it.
I would recommend it to a friend.

So tonight we eat pasta! I think i'll freeze some of it and dry some of it. Come back on Monday for your chance to enter to win a pound of homemade pasta made with organic eggs and whole wheat flour (basil, oregano, or garlic flavored by request!). I promise it will look better than this:

Dinner was delish. The last of the tomatoes were sweet as ever. Added a little pesto, and voila! Noodles cooked in about 3 minutes (until happily floating) and were gorgeous in my mouth. Yum yum yum yum.

New Pasta Maker! Upcoming Product Review and *GIVEAWAY*

Yipeeeee!
I love it when i hear the UPS truck stop outside my house, especially when it's followed by the DingDong of my door bell and the plop of an unexpected package on my stoop.
This particular package contained a brand new CucinaPro Pasta Maker sent from CSNstores. Not the fanciest pasta maker on the market, but quite affordable at around $30.  This Thursday or Friday I will whip up a batch of fresh pasta and let you all know how the little machine does. We'll probably eat that batch (with the last of my frozen tomatoes from last Summer's garden). I'll be whipping up a second batch over the weekend, however, and would love to offer a pound of fresh pasta as a free giveaway to my lovely readers. More details will go up with the review post.

So don't miss out! Check back this weekend to find out if this pasta maker is a thumbs up or down, for those of you looking to make your own pasta maker purchase, and to enter for your chance to win some delicious, nutritious homemade pasta made by me with my chickies' eggs.

Pasta: A First Attempt

This past week has been a bit crazy. My folks are in town, their RV is in fact hooked up to my house and parked right outside my window as we speak. Needless to say, my normal routines have been a bit off and it feels a little too much like vacation around here.

That being said, having guests may not be conducive to writing down good and specific recipes, but it is good for trying new foods and experimenting on large numbers of people (mwa ha ha ha).

Last night I made some scrumptious fish tacos with tilapia (seasoned with lime, cumin and cardamom and baked at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until sizzly and cooked through), store bought tortillas (we got home after a long day at the fair and it was past dinner time - not a good day to try making corn tortillas from scratch for the first time) and tasty coleslaw. This time 'round my coleslaw consisted of:

• 1 head regular green cabbage, cut finely
• 1 whole granny smith, shredded
• 1/2 sweet onion, cut into fine strips
• several good  pinches lemon basil (dried this time'round)
• 2 spoonfuls mayo
• drizzle vinaigrette - mostly vinegar
• drizzle lemon juice
• salt and pepper

It was a nice, green refreshing thing to eat after a day slogging through dust.

But enough about yesterday, today is a day of butter making, garden tending - time to prep the beds for corn seed!, sun basking, and later on: pasta making.

Today's pasta method:

     4 eggs

     2 cups flour (unbleached white whole wheat)

Mix into a stiff dough with a sprinkle of salt. Roll out as thin as you can stand it, lay out on a cloth for one hour. Wish i had a better surface to roll things out on, as i hate how things like to stick to my counter. 

Spoon about a teaspoon of filling onto the pasta, cut into 3" squares. Roll the pasta over and press on both sides with a fork to seal the edges. Made about 30 raviolis plus some extra noodle.

Filling:

• Bunch spinach, sliced and microwaved briefly
• 5 ice cubes pesto, thawed
• Generous pinches shredded mozz, parm, and garlic/herb cheese 

Let the raviolis sit on a floured board for another hour or so and drop into rapidly boiling, salted water for about 20 minutes - while heating up some tomato sauce. I wanted the raviolis to be the stars tonight, so i used a can of Hunt's Diced garlic and herb tomatoes (which are really quite good!) and a splash of red wine, plus an ice cube of pesto.

Cooking the raviolis proved to be a battle of the boil - they wanted to leap out of the pot! But after about 15 or so minutes, and occasionally flipping and shoving down into the water, they were cooked to perfection. Served with the sauce, the homemade ravioli was a meal fit for any queen: guest or otherwise. Filling, protein packed, cheesy/pestoy delicious: these will make their way onto our menu often. I look forward to playing around with whatever i have in the garden, and making the noodles with some veg in them also.

 

Obviously, we were all too stoked about the eating of the pasta, 

the photographing of the pasta before it was eaten didn't happen. 

You'll just have to trust me that it was beautiful and delicious.

Pretty easy to do: the rolling out thinly was the hardest part. Making homemade pasta takes quite a bit of inactive time, but if you're around the house, you might as well be making pasta!
Stay tuned for a future review of a brand new pasta maker that may be coming my way!

Do you make your own pasta? What is your favorite ingredient to include?