Pasta Making Day

   Today I got a snow day at work! I always love it when I don't have to go to work when I was expecting to. It is a great feeling to be able to just go back to bed and wake up at a normal hour like the rest of my family instead of at 3:30 am. Since I didn't have to work today I decided that I would make a couple different types of ravioli to put in the freezer for a later date. I love to make ravioli, it is so fun and quite simple, a little bit time consuming but it is well worth it. They taste simply amazing.

   I made some round ones and some square ones so that I could tell them apart, as they have different fillings. One (the round ones) are a creamy chicken filling and the square ones are a garlic and mushroom filling. Both sound fantastic, but of course I don't know what they taste like as they are in the freezer! But I am sure that they will be wonderful. The last ones I made were beef and vegetable, they were amazing. I made up the recipe though and I have no idea what I put in them now. That was about 3 months ago. I should have wrote it down, but it is to late now. Here are the recipes for these ones, as I don't want to forget these ones too. :)

Garlic Mushroom Ravioli:

Serves 4

5 1/2 T. butter

1/2 c. finely chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 c. finely chopped mushrooms

1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped

1/2 c. finely grated romano cheese, plus extra for garnish

Heat 2 T. butter in a skillet. Add the shallots, garlic, mushrooms, and celery. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Creamy Chicken Ravioli:

Serves 4

1- 4 oz cooked chicken breast, coarsely chopped

1/8 c. cooked spinach

1 shallot, coarsely chopped

6 T. freshly grated romano cheese

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, lightly beaten

Place chicken, spinach, and shallot in food processor and process until chopped and blended. Transfer to a bowl, stir in cheese, nutmeg and egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Basic Pasta Dough: ( I also use this for vereniky dough, also know as perogies but the mennonite version.)

Serves about 6

1 c. milk

3/4 c. butter

4 c. flour

1 t. salt

2 eggs beaten

Heat milk and butter in a saucepan stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to cool to room temperature. Put 4 cups flour and salt into a Bosch mixer or you can use a kitchen aid as well. Mix beaten eggs with milk mixture. Add liquid to flour mixture. Beat on slow with dough hook for 2 minutes. Cover dough. Chill for about 4-6 hours. Last time I made them I only let it chill for about 30 minutes and they still worked very well. The dough will just be easier to make if it has been chilled for the proper time.

A great filling for vereniky (which is a cottage cheese filled perogy) is 2 tubs dry cottage cheese, 1 wet tub cottage cheese, 2 egg yolks and salt and pepper to taste. Very easy and VERY good. But this is for a totally different recipe. Not for the ravioli, just to let you know, but if you want to try it, it is excellent.

How to make square ravioli:


Divide the pasta dough in half and wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap. Roll out the other piece to a rectangle 2-3 mm thick. Cover with a damp dish towel and roll out the other piece of dough the same size.

Place 1 teaspoon of the prepared filling in neat rows spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart on a sheet of pasta dough. Brush the spaces between the mounds with a little water or beaten egg.

Using a rolling pin, place the second sheet of dough on top and press down firmly between the pockets of filling, pushing out the air bubbles. Using a pasta wheel or a sharp knife cut into squares.

Place on a floured dish towel and let stand for 30-60 minutes to dry out slightly before cooking.


ENJOY!