Raviolis

Last week I was in a ravioli-making frenzy. I ate raviolis five nights in a row. Five. Count them. I'm on what they call the anti-South Beach diet. :) This carb loving girl never says no to fresh pasta. What brought on this carb loading you ask? Well it all started with a simple tiny little unassuming bag of flour. 00 flour (super duper finely milled) to be exact. Most pasta recipes I've seen ask for 00 flour, but since it's not easily or readily available, I normally substitute with all purpose flour. Since I was all stocked up on the good stuff, now was time to see what all the hype was about.

It was love at first knead. The flour is baby powder soft and absorbs the liquid in a flash. I used the proportion of one cup of flour to one egg. A few teaspoons of water helped bring it all together. I gave the dough about 30 minutes for the glutens to relax and rolled it out as thin as possible. I cut out rounds using a large biscuit cutter and then I set everything up assembly line style.

The process of making raviolis

Wrappers, filling and egg wash to seal it all up. Hungry tummys want food fast.

Seal 'em Up

Now let's talk filling. Sky is the limit here. I love mine creamy with a punch of flavor, so the first night we did the classic spinach and ricotta.  Even though it would have been perfectly delicious with just butter and Parmasen cheese, I added some sauteed Opo squash, red chili pepper flakes and flat leaf parsley.

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli with Opo Squash

1 comment

The next night we had raviolis filled with organic arugula and garlic quark from Spring Hill. I topped it with a quick heirloom tomato sauce. Raviolis are comfort food so I kept it rustic by garnishing it with hand torn basil and lots of Parmasen cheese.

Arugula & Garlic Quark Raviolis

1 comment

00 flour is awesome. It yields the tenderest most delectably delicious dough.