September 19, 2012

Homemade Ravioli and Summer Squash



I promised you more zucchini and here I deliver. In today’s recipe it plays second fiddle to homemade ravioli, because why not? If you’re going to go to all the trouble of making ravioli by hand, you want it to be the star of your dish. And since zucchini is pretty easy to find right now, might as well make a bed of it to add some veggies to your meal.

When I last tackled ravioli (seen here), I lamented that I couldn’t master egg yolk ravioli. Today is still not that day. But I am getting one step closer! One of these days…

It’s not as easy as using wonton wrappers because you actually have to make pasta dough. You would think this might have given me a clue that my kitchen was about to be inundated with flour, but I marched on to my cleaning hell unconcerned. Don’t skimp on flouring your work surface. It might make cleaning up more interesting, but your pasta won’t roll out nicely without it. Necessary evil folks, necessary evil.

(And yes, that is an instagrammed picture of the pasta I made. Can you tell I got a smartphone recently?)





Homemade Ravioli and Summer Squash
Slightly adapted from Once a Month Mom

If you’re like me and cooking for one, don’t bother trying to reduce the recipe to single person portions. It’ll just make you crazy. Instead, make the ravioli as instructed and place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Flash free until solid (about an hour), then stick into a ziploc bag. In a separate bag, add the sliced veggies and freeze as well. Simply cook the frozen ravioli for a few extra minutes and sauté the veggies (just treat like any other frozen veggies!)

Ingredients:

Pasta
4 eggs
2 cups flour (plus additional for work surface)
2 eggs plus 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash

Filling
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups zucchini (or a mixture of yellow squash and zucchini for some visual interest), thinly slice
1/2 cup white onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced

Equipment
Large work surface, rolling pin, mixing bowls, pot

Instructions:

Make the pasta:

Add flour into mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the egg and stir together (feel free to use your fingers!) until incorporated. The dough should be stiff. Generously flour a work surface – large cutting board, a clear counter, whatever works and is level – and turn dough onto it. Knead dough, adding additional flour as you go until the dough is thick and smooth and no longer sticking to your work surface. Don’t worry, you can’t overwork it, so feel free to keep kneading and adding flour until you’ve got the dough where you want it. Divide the dough into two equal parts, cover in saran wrap and let rest while you assemble the filling.

Make the filling:

In another bowl, mix together all filing ingredients and stir until well combined.

Assemble the ravioli!

Make your egg wash then generously flour your work surface once more. Roll out each half of the dough until it’s as thin as you can get it without breaking. Use a sharp knife to trim dough until two roughly equal sized rectangles. Without cutting all the way through, score one sheet of dough into squares to make yourself a guide to the ravioli.

Add a tablespoon of filling into each square and brush the egg wash around it using your finger or a pastry brush. Continue laying out filling and egg wash until you’ve filled up the first sheet. Gently place the second dough directly on top and press down around your filling to make the seams and bond the layers together. Cut out your ravioli and press a fork around each edge to make the final seal.

Boil a large pot of salted water and cook ravioli 2 or 3 at a time until they float (about 5-7 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon.

As your ravioli are cooking, heat olive oil in a large pan. Saute veggies until tender (about 5-7 minutes) and place them on the bottom of your serving dish or individual plates. Place ravioli on top.

Serve with commercial spaghetti sauce, butter, or as is!

Serves 4
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