Thank-you to all of you who humored me with my treat week poll.
First place was the pizookie, followed by the strawberry cupcakes, and the parfaits.
But, before I could put my heart-shaped cookie cutter away, I put it to good use one more time.
We had heart-shaped ravioli for our Valentine's dinner.
These truly are a labor of love! They do take a while, but trust me when I tell you....
they are soooooooooooooooo good!
As long as I'm sharing this, I thought I'd go all out and post the story and recipe.
I've been experimenting with fresh pasta since my friends got me this dreamy gift last birthday.
The kitchen aid pasta roller attachment!
Are you more impressed with my pasta roller, or my friends who got me the gift card for it?
I know, I'm lucky.
I mastered fettucini very quickly. My kids love to make it too.
Don't worry, I did do a side-by-side comparison with fresh pasta and boxed pasta.
Yes, it is worth the work, the tenderness is divine! Plus, doesn't this look like fun?
I make my dough in the kitchen aid bowl with the dough hook.
I know if I was being authentically Italian, I would do it on my countertop and knead it by hand.
5 cups of flour
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
As far as technique, watch Mario or Giada. Ha ha. I'm not advanced enough to have a video clip for you.
I did find that the perfect thickness was to go to with a #5 on my roller, for ravioli.
For square ravioli, just lay it out on the table and put the filling in every few inches.
Seal around them with an egg wash, cut them with a pizza roller (or cut hearts),
press around the edges, then press with a fork.
Red sauce or white?
Um... I want the best of both worlds! I'm a little Hannah Montana-ish that way.
Oops, I forgot to tell you what is inside. I want to try other filling recipes too,
but it's hard to veer off when this 3 cheese/spinach ravioli is so yummy.
Cook 1/2 bunch of spinach in 2 Tbsp. of butter. Cut it up, add to bowl.
Add 1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cubed fresh mozarella
1/2 cup grated mozarella
3 Tbsp. fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp. dry basil)
Dash of Garlic powder and Pepper
And by the way, this makes a ton! I made it all up, but what I didn't cook, I froze.
It was a quick and ready meal for another busy night.Labels: main dishes, valentine's