Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Ricotta Part Five- Homemade Ravioli



Yes, I still have a little ricotta left!  (ricotta-part-one-making-ricotta) And yes, this will be the last post using that batch of Ricotta... 

Years ago I  had a pasta maker.  I loved it but when I moved from a spacious suburban apartment with a walk in pantry to a smaller city condo it didn't make the cut. 

A quick substitute for homemade noodles?  Wonton or Egg Roll wrappers.  While Italian cooks may beg to differ, I like to think that the ingredients are pretty similar, flour, water, maybe an egg. 

I have tried several different versions of ravioli using these go-to wrappers and they have all turned out great.  Let's take a look at one that uses my homemade Ricotta:


Ricotta, beef and mushroom ravioli:

Saute 1 clove of minced garlic and 1 cubed portabello mushroom.

Add 1/2# lean ground beef, season to taste (I used crushed red pepper flakes) and cook through.


Mix meat and mushroom mixture with 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and 1 tbsp parmesan cheese.


Time to form the ravioli.  There are two ways.  I have a ravioli maker:


Place a wonton wrapper on top of the ravioli maker



Add 1 tbsp of filling



and close



Or you could also make them by hand.

Lay a wonton wrapper out and put 2 tbsp filling on as follows:


Fold it in half



Cut into two squares



Press edges to seal with a fork




Not too bad right?  And now to cook them.  Bring salted water to a boil.  Adding 4-5 ravioli to the pan at a time, cooking 1-2 minutes each.

Voila!



Dress with your favorite sauce.




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