Rockin' the Ravioli

Hi there. Me again, the noodle girl.

Thought I'd lay down the latest ravioli recipes in print in case anyone out there feels like givin' it a try.

If you can remember back to my Egg Noodle Recipe, making noodle dough is super simple.

Eggs, salt, flour...although to this dough I also added a swig of EVOO and a coupla' melted flat leaf parsley cubes.

Confused?

Well...at the end of summer, we had so much parsley in the garden, that I clipped it down to about 3 inches from the dirt. I took the bowls (and BOWLS) of freshly harvested herbs, dumped it all into my food processor (with a few drops of water for more consistency), and then froze the concoction into ice cube trays.

Once frozen, I bagged the cubes and I use them in recipes whenever I'm feeling we need a green boost.

To this dough, I added two cubes.

Ok then.
ANYWHO. For ravioli, roll your noodle dough out flat with a rolling pin.

Today I experimented with two different types of ravioli filling: Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage, and Rosemary Mushroom. They both turned out really good, but the photos of the mushroom concoction all came out blurry, booo hisssss.

For the Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage filling, you are going to split and gut your squash (give the innards and eventually the skins, once cooked, to your hens..they freak out with happiness) then roast it in about a half inch of water in a roasting pan for an hour at 400 degrees.

While the squash is roasting, chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Saute those bad boys in some EVOO until tender, and throw about a tablespoon and a half of dried sage into the pan and mix. *(I know, it seems like alot of kick, but you are going to add the squash to this mixture, so don't be such a worrywart. Plus sage is good for you, you clown.)
If you have pepper-loving taste buds, you can also throw a whole bunch of fresh ground pepper in there.

Once roasted, remove skins from squash (bok bok bok...the hens), drain away the water, and smash up the squash with the onion mixture in a bowl. I used a potato smasher, but a fork would work just as well.

Use a pizza cutter to cut your flattened dough into rectangles. Whatever size you're into is fine.
Mine were generally 3inches by 4inches....generally. Sort of.

Use a spoon and put about a teaspoon of filling onto one side of the rectangle. Fold the dough over the top of the filling and carefully squeeze your ravioli edges shut with your fingers or a fork.

Or both.

*Reminder: Use alot of flour on your work surface or there will be alot of swear words flying around your kitchen. Trust me.

Once your ravioli are stuffed and the edges are secured, lay them to rest on a floured cookie sheet. I allowed mine to sit for about 30 minutes, then I popped the cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour or so. Once they were solid, I dropped my frozen ravioli into labeled freezer bags.

The rest at room temperature gives the ravioli some time to dry out. Otherwise you could be lookin' at some freezer burn type of action later on down the road.

Remember that frozen pasta, including ravioli, can be put directly into boiling water to cook. No need to THAW, not DE-THAW.

**DE-THAW IS NOT A WORD.**

Cook ravioli for 15-20 minutes, checking for doneness by taste-testing whenever you feel hungry. Or bored.

Okay, here's the other recipe for the Rosemary Mushroom Ravioli Filling.

• one pound fresh mushies, or two small cans of them, chopped
• 3 shallots, chopped (onion will work just as well)
• 1 t. chopped dried rosemary (or 1 T. fresh)
• 1/2 C grated Swiss cheese
• 2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

Saute the onions and mushrooms in a little EVOO. Add the spice. Heck, throw some salt and pepper in there if you want. Remove from heat. Mix in the cheeses.

You're ready for action.

Also in Coyle news: we offed one of our Black Star Roosters yesterday. He was mean. There is a calm Zen-like vibe in the hen house this Martin Luther King Day.

Hugs, and dog hair, The Coyles