On January 1, I considered making a traditional New Year’s Day meal. There are certainly enough food traditions revolving around that date. People believe that by eating anything from black-eyed peas and pork to soba and tangerines, they will have good luck in the coming year. However, I’m not particularly superstitious, nor do I like a lot of the traditional American New Year’s foods. But I did want our first dinner of 2010 to be a special one. So, I spent the day in the kitchen making a recipe that I’d had bookmarked for quite some time – handmade ravioli in a decadent cream sauce.
The New Year is now 3 weeks old. The New Year’s Resolution newbies are starting to clear out of my gym. All those goals and promises revolving around crash diets and long workouts are already being forgotten. This is exactly why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions at all. To me, it’s much better to enjoy all that life has to offer and work to improve oneself on a daily basis. This includes, among other things, enjoying good food and drink, and making time for regular exercise. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people go on and on about how “bad” a food is. No food is bad. If you want a cupcake, eat a cupcake, and do it without whining about how fat it will make you. Just don’t eat ten cupcakes. As Aristotle said (and yes, I am paraphrasing here), moderation is a virtue.
But I digress. Time to get off the soapbox and back to the recipe. It is now Mid-Winter in Ohio. It’s cold and icky outside. Comfort food is the order of the day, especially when that food is a rich, cheesy pasta in cream sauce.
Cheese Ravioli with Spinach Cream Sauce
Makes 4 Servings
Pasta Ingredients
(Makes 1 1/4 lb. pasta)
4 large eggs
2 tbsp. water
3 1/2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Filling Ingredients
2 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 box (approx. 5 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed & dried
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
freshly ground salt & black pepper, to taste
Sauce Ingredients
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, roasted
3 plum tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 box (approx. 5 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1/2 c. dry vermouth
2 c. cream
1 tbsp. basil
1 tbsp. oregano
freshly ground salt & pepper, to taste
To make the pasta
1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed (speed 2 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) with a flat beater for 30 seconds.
2. Replace flat beater with dough hook. Knead on low speed for 2 minutes.
3. Remove dough from bowl and knead with hands for 2 more minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and let rest for 20 minutes.
*At this point, the dough recipe instructed me to roll the pasta with my pasta roller, then shape it in a ravioli mold. However, I haven’t quite been able to justify the $120 pricetag that the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment comes with yet. As for the ravioli mold, I like unitaskers more than any self-respecting Alton Brown fan should. But I draw the line at things that I will use, at most, twice a year. So, I rolled the dough with my trusty rolling pin and cut it with a round cookie cutter. Here’s how I did it:
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough very thinly (most recipes suggest 1/16″, though mine was a bit thicker). Cut out the dough using cookie cutters and set aside.
To make the ravioli
1. While the dough is resting, make the filling by combining all ingredients in the order given. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Place a dough circle on a flat surface. Top with a small amount of cheese filling. Place a second dough circle on top. Squeeze together, lightly wetting edges to seal. Repeat until all pasta and filling have been used. Place on baking sheets, cover with wax paper, and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. To make the sauce, cut red pepper and tomatoes in half. Roast in the broiler, turning once to ensure that both sides are browned. Skin and thinly slice peppers and tomatoes.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, salt and pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add vermouth and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and cook the ravioli.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ravioli, being careful not to crowd the pot. Boil for 5 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Remove and drain. Repeat until all ravioli is cooked.
6. Return sauce to a hot burner. Heat sauce, then add the cream. Carefully add ravioli to sauce and cook until sauce is slightly reduced. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
My Thoughts & Suggestions:
I served this recipe with a Caesar Salad and my trusty Garlic-Parmesan Bread. Definitely make sure you have some sort of dense, crusty bread available to sop up the excess sauce.
This is a time-consuming recipe. I didn’t time exactly how long it took me to make this recipe. I know I spent over 2 hours in the kitchen, and enjoyed every minute of it. As for my method, there are a lot of ways to actually form the ravioli. I used the one that made the most sense for my situation with the tools that I already had. My only real complaint was that the raviolis came out a little thicker than I would have liked. In spite of that, I’d definitely call this recipe a resounding success. It was a special meal for a special day; and definitely a lot more satisfying than the icky black-eyed peas my dad forced on me as a child.
Recipe Source: Adapted from Homemade Cheese Ravioli with Spinach Cream Sauce at Teri’s Kitchen using the KitchenAid Basic Egg Pasta Dough recipe.
