I have been dying to try to make homemade ravioli for a year now, and I finally decided to do it last weekend. I had a cute squash from my CSA on hand, so I decided to make squash ravioli. After researching on this website what type of squash I had, I was pretty sure it was a Buttercup Squash. It tastes similar to a sweet potato. I am not going to lie, this ravioli took a lot of work. My entire evening was dedicated to this dinner (which ended up happening at 10 pm), but this is not to discourage anyone from making their own, because the raviolis really are delicious and pretty. I just wanted to give you fair warning.
I decided to change things up and use Martha Stewart's pasta dough recipe instead of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It
's recipe. There are a few differences between the two recipes, and ultimately I found the Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It's recipe to be better. Compared to Martha's, Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It's addition of olive oil, made the dough less sticky and easier to handle. Plus, I made the dough in a large bowl instead of on the counter like Martha demonstrates - the dumbest and messier decision ever. Click here to compare recipes.
Here are the ingredients for Martha Stewart's Cooking School
's Fresh Pasta Dough:
-2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-Pinch of course salt
-Semolina flour, for baking sheet (I used coarse cornmeal)
Create a mound of the flour on a large clean work surface, and then create a well in the middle. Lightly beat the eggs and salt with a fork in a small bowl, then pour into the well. I would have provided more pictures, but my pasta turned into a sticky mess. Large eggs, plus a small well plus a countertop equals disaster! It eventually worked out in the end, but I definitely needed my friends assistance at one point! Continuing on, use a fork to work the flour into the eggs. Then use your hands to work in the rest of the mixture, a bit at a time, just to form a sticky dough (don't force the flour to be incorporated; it's okay if some remains on the work surface). For a more detailed look of pasta dough making, check out my original pasta dough post here.
Knead the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Form dough into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and let rest for 1 1/2 hours at room temperature. I found that when I went to unwrap the dough, the plastic wrap stuck to the dough. I would recommend wrapping the dough in a clean, damp kitchen towel. While the dough is resting, create the ravioli filling.
Ingredients for Martha Stewart's Cooking School's Ravioli with Butternut Squash Filling:
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-Coarse salt and pepper
-1/2 small butternut squash (1 1/2 pound), halved lengthwise and seeds removed (I used the buttercup squash)
-1 large egg yolk
-3/4 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
-Fresh pasta dough
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
-1 tablespoon chiffonade of sage
To begin, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Oil the baking sheet, and place squash cut side down. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through.
Measure out 1 3/4 cups of the squash filling, and keep the leftovers for another use. The leftovers can make a delicious mashed squash with Parmesan and a little salt and pepper. Place half of the 1 3/4 cup filling in a bowl, set aside, and place the other half in a food processor with the egg yolk, Parmigiano-Reggiano, ricotta, and season with salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth, then add the mixture to the reserved squash, and gently fold to combine. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
If you do not want to cook all your ravioli at once, simply place your ravioli on a baking sheet and freeze for about 10 minutes, and then place the ravioli in an air-tight bag. These will last up to 4 months, and you can cook them in the same amount of time without thawing them out. Enjoy!
Last year around this time, I made chocolate meringues. Click here to check them out.
I have been meaning to post about this for a while - like I-lived-in-a-whole-'nother-apartment-while-ago. When I have time I make my own pasta. The dough is super simple, and it just takes a little crafty work and voila - you have fresh pasta that just makes you feel proud that you have made it. And no - you don't need a pasta maker, a rolling pin works just fine. Once you learn how to make the dough, the possibilites are endless. Since I have gotten so many fresh veggies, I thought it would be a great time to share the recipe.
Ingredients for Basic Pasta Dough from Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, makes 4 (12-inch square) sheets of dough:
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of the flour and the salt. Shape a deep well in the middle of the four - it should look like a volcano. In another bowl, beat the eggs, then beat in the oil. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the center of the flour, stirring it into the flour. Keep incorporating the eggs into the flour until the mixture gets too stiff to mix with a fork. Switch to your hands and add enough flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to mix it together into a sticky dough.
Once your dough has come together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. Work the dough by pushing all the sides into the middle, then bringing the bottom over the top and down, in a repetitive motion. With a steady flow of motion, this should take about 8 to 10 minutes of kneading. You'll know your ready when the dough feels somewhat elastic and it no longer cracks and crumbles while being handled. It will also take on a bit of subtle shine.
Dampen a clean kitchen towel and wrap the dough in the towel. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and with a scraper or knife, cut into equal quarters. Roll the first piece into a ball, flatten it with your hands, then roll it out into a 12-inch square about 1/8-inch thick, keeping the work surface and the rolling pin well floured. I rolled mine out until I could see the counter top coming through.
At this point you can make whatever shape of pasta you want - lasagna, fettuccine, spaghetti, ravioli squares, etc. On this day I made fettuccine, so I go out a ruler and a pizza cutter and went to town. Karen even suggests folding into thirds and then cutting, just make sure the dough is well floured.
Flour a large rimmed baking sheet well. Once pasta has been cut, gently place in baking sheet and let rest, stretched long, to dry.
To cook the pasta, boil a large stockpot of water with salt. Start tasting the pasta after 5 to 7 minutes (or shorter if you made thinner pasta). It should be soft and visibly cooked in the middle.
To go along with the pasta I came up with this sauce to use up my heirloom tomatoes and my quarter of an onion. The quantity is based off the two leftover tomatoes I had, but you can easily double or triple the recipe. I had read about Smitten Kitchen's tomato sauce with onion and butter a while ago and thought I would give it a whirl using fresh tomatoes.
Simple Tomato Sauce, adapted from Smitten Kitchen, serves 2:
-2 heirloom tomatoes (you can use any fresh flavorful tomato)
-1 clove garlic, peeled
-Quarter of a large onion, peeled
-2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
-Salt to taste
First cut tomatoes into large chunks, about 2 by 3 inch pieces. Place all the ingredients into a medium sauce pan and cover over low heat. Bring to a simmer, and then reduce it to the lowest heat so it is just barely bubbling, still covered. Cook for about 40 minutes or until droplets of fat separate from the tomatoes. Stir every ten minutes or so and break the tomatoes down using a wooden spoon against the side of the pan.
Once the tomatoes are broken down, uncover and raise the heat so it comes to a strong simmer. Cook until the tomato sauce has thickened to your liking, about 10-15 minutes. Disgard the onion and garlic clove.
Place the sauce over your favorite pasta or eat it by the spoonful - it is hard to resist.
