First Post Evah
Alright, first posting. I thought to be nervous about it but then remembered the measley piddling unimportance of my blogspace existence, and knew such anxiety would be a pretty arrogant concern.
Last night I made homemade ravioli stuffed with crab and tarragon, topped with a lemon goat cheese cream sauce and smoked salmon.
It wasn't that great. No matter how thin you make your fresh ravioli, unless they're stuffed to the brim, it seems all you taste is the puffy pasta. Semolina flour is the key to good fresh pasta, but the truth is that fresh pasta is impossible to make al dente.
However, there is one redeeming quality of fresh ravioli and that is fried and toasted ravioli. It's great with a pumpkin stuffing and a nutty-flavored drizzle for a great appetizer.
Fresh Pasta:
3 eggs
2 cups white semolina flour (1/2 whole wheat works too but let it rest longer to strengthen the gluten, which makes the pasta dough stretchy instead of likely to rip)
Mix in food processor then knead for ~5min till smooth and elastic. Form into ball, cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes.
With charp knife, cut off a 1/4 of the ball and roll on lightly floured surface till 1/8" thin, or use pasta roller to smoosh into desired thinness.
My pasta roller flattens dough into long 5-6" strips, which I lay on the counter and space filling about 1.5" apart along half of the strip. Then I fold the other half over and use a cookie cutter to make ravioli. This usually avoids the need for water to seal the edges of your ravioli.
Boil for 3-4 min and toss with a sauce.
My sauce was as follows:
garlic and butter, sauteed until garlic smells great then stop it from burning with a generous dash of white wine. Cook wine till alcohol burns off. This should be a light sauce, not thick with cream.
Add 1-2 cups of heavy cream (depending on your number of guests)
Add juice of 1/2 a lemon, or more if you're serving 3+ people.
Salt and pepper.
Add 1-2 tbsp chevre (goat milk cheese).
At the last minute, add a handful of shreds of smoked salmon. Do not let them cook till light pink--they're already cooked and have more flavor in their darker pink state.
Pour sauce over ravioli, toss, and serve.
Last night I made homemade ravioli stuffed with crab and tarragon, topped with a lemon goat cheese cream sauce and smoked salmon.
It wasn't that great. No matter how thin you make your fresh ravioli, unless they're stuffed to the brim, it seems all you taste is the puffy pasta. Semolina flour is the key to good fresh pasta, but the truth is that fresh pasta is impossible to make al dente.
However, there is one redeeming quality of fresh ravioli and that is fried and toasted ravioli. It's great with a pumpkin stuffing and a nutty-flavored drizzle for a great appetizer.
Fresh Pasta:
3 eggs
2 cups white semolina flour (1/2 whole wheat works too but let it rest longer to strengthen the gluten, which makes the pasta dough stretchy instead of likely to rip)
Mix in food processor then knead for ~5min till smooth and elastic. Form into ball, cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes.
With charp knife, cut off a 1/4 of the ball and roll on lightly floured surface till 1/8" thin, or use pasta roller to smoosh into desired thinness.
My pasta roller flattens dough into long 5-6" strips, which I lay on the counter and space filling about 1.5" apart along half of the strip. Then I fold the other half over and use a cookie cutter to make ravioli. This usually avoids the need for water to seal the edges of your ravioli.
Boil for 3-4 min and toss with a sauce.
My sauce was as follows:
garlic and butter, sauteed until garlic smells great then stop it from burning with a generous dash of white wine. Cook wine till alcohol burns off. This should be a light sauce, not thick with cream.
Add 1-2 cups of heavy cream (depending on your number of guests)
Add juice of 1/2 a lemon, or more if you're serving 3+ people.
Salt and pepper.
Add 1-2 tbsp chevre (goat milk cheese).
At the last minute, add a handful of shreds of smoked salmon. Do not let them cook till light pink--they're already cooked and have more flavor in their darker pink state.
Pour sauce over ravioli, toss, and serve.
Comments