Ok, we've already made ravioli with a more "unusual" pumpkin filling, now we are going to do the "classical" approach with the ricotta cheese and spinach filling.
For the filling, its easy and is very simple:
Serves 4 (approx. enough to prepare medium size ravioli using 1lb (450g) flour)
YOU'LL NEED:
- 1.5 lb fresh baby spinach
- 30 oz ricotta cheese
- 2 T spoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 T spoon nutmeg
- 4 oz grated parmigiano cheese
- salt & pepper
PREPARATION:
Start off by cleaning the spinach (take the stems off) and boil in salted water until the leaves are soft (not more than 3-4 minutes). Remove, drain completely. In a skillet place the butter on low heat and add the spinach and add a dash of salt. Cook until the liquid has reduced nearly completely.
Remove from skillet and let cool. In a medium size bowl, add the ricotta cheese, the egg, nutmeg and parmigiano cheese and a dash of salt and a t-spoon black pepper and mix well.
When the spinach has cooled, cut well and add to the ricotta mixture and create a very uniform consistancy.
And that's it!
When your dough is prepared for the rivioli, place approximately a t-spoon ball shape of the ricotta/spinach mixture approximately 2 - 2.5 inches apart on your dough strip (just under the mid point). With egg white you will need to paint a thin strip along the upper and lower edges of your dough strip, then fold over the top end of the strip and attach to the lower end.
At this point you are ready to seal in your filling areas to eliminate the air pockets and use either an espresso cup or a ravioli cutter to form the shape of your ravioli, cut them apart and with a fork you will want to close around the sealed areas of the ravioli so that they will not open up when placed in boiling water.
ENJOY!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
CROSTINI DI FEGATINI (liver pate toasts)
This anti-pasto is part of the Florentine culinary culture and do not let the word liver scare you away from tasting these wonders !
This pate' is served on toasted Tuscan (saltless) bread with a lite brush of extra virgin olive oil and garlic or sage flavor atop. You surely have heard of the bruscetta, well this is a variation.
Serving 6 people
YOU'LL NEED:
- 12-14 oz (400-450 gr) chicken livers
- 3 T spoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 canned flat anchovy fillets, drained
- 3 T spoons unsalted butter (do not use margerine or butter flavored substitutes.)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 18 slices (3 per person) country bread or the French type baguette toasted.
PREPARATION:
Remove any fat tissue from the livers.
Slice them into good sized pieces. Place in a hot skillet (high heat) olive oil and warm it and add the liver pieces. Season lightly with salt and pepper. I like to add a dash of balsamic vinegar for added flavor. Stir frequently and cook until the mixture begins to stick to your skillet (this will take approx. 7 minutes.
Add the white wine and cook until the wine evaporates. Add the chicken stock and lower the heat to medium and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove from heaat and eliminate the bay leaves. Put the liver, the rinsed anchovies, capers and garlic clove in your food processor or food mill until you have a creamy texture.
Return the combined liver,anchovies, capers back to your skillet and add 2 tablespoons of butter on low heat until you have a smooth pate'. Serve cooled on toasted oven bread. I like to add dash of olive oil on the surface of the toasted bread with a fast scape of a garlic clove before adding the pate'. Your choice !
SERVE WITH A GLASS OF COLD DRY WHITE WINE !
ENJOY..
This pate' is served on toasted Tuscan (saltless) bread with a lite brush of extra virgin olive oil and garlic or sage flavor atop. You surely have heard of the bruscetta, well this is a variation.
Serving 6 people
YOU'LL NEED:
- 12-14 oz (400-450 gr) chicken livers
- 3 T spoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 canned flat anchovy fillets, drained
- 3 T spoons unsalted butter (do not use margerine or butter flavored substitutes.)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 18 slices (3 per person) country bread or the French type baguette toasted.
PREPARATION:
Remove any fat tissue from the livers.
Slice them into good sized pieces. Place in a hot skillet (high heat) olive oil and warm it and add the liver pieces. Season lightly with salt and pepper. I like to add a dash of balsamic vinegar for added flavor. Stir frequently and cook until the mixture begins to stick to your skillet (this will take approx. 7 minutes.
Add the white wine and cook until the wine evaporates. Add the chicken stock and lower the heat to medium and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove from heaat and eliminate the bay leaves. Put the liver, the rinsed anchovies, capers and garlic clove in your food processor or food mill until you have a creamy texture.
Return the combined liver,anchovies, capers back to your skillet and add 2 tablespoons of butter on low heat until you have a smooth pate'. Serve cooled on toasted oven bread. I like to add dash of olive oil on the surface of the toasted bread with a fast scape of a garlic clove before adding the pate'. Your choice !
SERVE WITH A GLASS OF COLD DRY WHITE WINE !
ENJOY..
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Pumpkin or Butternut Squash Ravioli (Cappellacci Ferraresi)
Some fun and VERY good !
Ok, so I feel creative today and am making cappellacci (which means in Italian, nasta or bad hats) but are basically inverted ravioli and am going to prepare a pumpkin or butternut squash filling and a simple garlic and butter sauce or alternatively a sage and butter sauce.
I have a great video posted just below this wonderful recipe.
YOU'LL NEED:
- 2 lbs (about 1 kilo) yellow pumpkins
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 oz. butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 t spoon curry
- 2 T ricotta cheese
- salt QB
The Preparation:
PASTRY
Mix 4 eggs with approx. 1/2 lb of all purpose flour, three eggs, a pinch of salt. Prepare the daugh and roll it out thin (number six on the manual pasta making machines) and then cut into squares of approx. 2 1/2 inches per side.
THE FILLING
Mix the pumpking pulp that you have skinned and cut into small pieces and baked for about 20 minutes at 350F into a medium size bowl. Add approx. 1 cup of grated parmigiano padano, the nutmet 9 (I like a light negmeg taste but you can add more if you want a stronger more dominate nutmegy flavour).
Then with a t-spoon, place the filling into the middle of the pasta squares. Make sure your hands are clean and damp with water, close the square into a triangle form and now follow the video clip to see how the form of the cappellacci is formed.
Cook in boiling salted water.
Melt about 1/2 stick of butter, add the minced sage (get the real sage not the store bought dry stuff), a minced garli clove and then grate fresh parmigiano cheese on top of the "Ravioli" prior to serving.
ENJOY !
Ok, so I feel creative today and am making cappellacci (which means in Italian, nasta or bad hats) but are basically inverted ravioli and am going to prepare a pumpkin or butternut squash filling and a simple garlic and butter sauce or alternatively a sage and butter sauce.
I have a great video posted just below this wonderful recipe.
YOU'LL NEED:
- 2 lbs (about 1 kilo) yellow pumpkins
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 oz. butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 t spoon curry
- 2 T ricotta cheese
- salt QB
The Preparation:
PASTRY
Mix 4 eggs with approx. 1/2 lb of all purpose flour, three eggs, a pinch of salt. Prepare the daugh and roll it out thin (number six on the manual pasta making machines) and then cut into squares of approx. 2 1/2 inches per side.
THE FILLING
Mix the pumpking pulp that you have skinned and cut into small pieces and baked for about 20 minutes at 350F into a medium size bowl. Add approx. 1 cup of grated parmigiano padano, the nutmet 9 (I like a light negmeg taste but you can add more if you want a stronger more dominate nutmegy flavour).
Then with a t-spoon, place the filling into the middle of the pasta squares. Make sure your hands are clean and damp with water, close the square into a triangle form and now follow the video clip to see how the form of the cappellacci is formed.
Cook in boiling salted water.
Melt about 1/2 stick of butter, add the minced sage (get the real sage not the store bought dry stuff), a minced garli clove and then grate fresh parmigiano cheese on top of the "Ravioli" prior to serving.
ENJOY !
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A great dip (artichoke or carciofi) and home-made cheese crackers
Ok, its sunday and getting ready for the super-bowl (the big game) and made something pretty good for the pre-game munchies.
ARTICHOKE or Carciofi Dip:
You'll need
- 10-12 artichoke hearts, cleaned and cut.
- small bunch of flat parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- mozzarella cheese
- ricotta cheese
In a small pan, add about 2 T spoons of olive oil on medium heat and add two cut garlic cloves, when golden add the finely cut parsley.
Add the artichoke hearts, stir and cover for 10 minutes but be careful not to let burn.
Add approx. 2 T spoons of a good balsamic vinegar, I say good because there is a huge difference between a good and a poor vinegar. Add about 1/8 cup of warm water and cover again until those wonderful carciofi (artichokes) are well broken and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Take of the heat and let cool slightly then place them into your food processor or blender.
Add to this the third garlic clove (good size) as well as 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup ricotta as well as a small amount of olive oil (2 T spoons). I like to add (optional) a small amount of cooking cream or panna da cucina but you can also use a low fat or light cream such as half and half coffee cream if you need to cut down on the calories...)
Blend until the dip is creamy and smooth and eccolo...
THE DIP NEEDS SOMETHING TO BE DIPPED INTO IT SO now comes the cheese crakers:
Sure you can buy something at the grocer but whats better than warm, home-made Italian cheese crackers?
You'll need:
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup crated parmigiano
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 T spoons olive oil
- Rosemary or tyme
- 1 T spoon salt and 1 t spoon black pepper.
- Seranwrap (that clear plastic that drives me bonkers)
Start off by adding the parmigiano cheese and the butter together in a small bowl and mix together. Then in another medium size bowl, add the flour, rosemary or tyme, salt & pepper together along with the olive oil and mix together. When you have a good homogenous consistency, add the cheese and butter to this and form a dough ball.
On a wooden surface form a log shape form with this dough about 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter and roll this log so that it is compact onto the seranwrap and close the wrap so that it is rather tight. Place in your freezer for about 20-25 minutes and will explain why the freezer part below.
Heat your over to about 375F. Remove the log you made above and place on a wooden cutting board and with a clean and very thin cutting knife make about 1/4 inch slices from the log. Place the slices (or your soon to be Italian crackers on parchment paper (on a good size cookie sheet). Cook in heated over for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and place these wonders on a big plate for a super antipasto or pre-game special with your artichoke dip.
ENJOY!
ARTICHOKE or Carciofi Dip:
You'll need
- 10-12 artichoke hearts, cleaned and cut.
- small bunch of flat parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- mozzarella cheese
- ricotta cheese
In a small pan, add about 2 T spoons of olive oil on medium heat and add two cut garlic cloves, when golden add the finely cut parsley.
Add the artichoke hearts, stir and cover for 10 minutes but be careful not to let burn.
Add approx. 2 T spoons of a good balsamic vinegar, I say good because there is a huge difference between a good and a poor vinegar. Add about 1/8 cup of warm water and cover again until those wonderful carciofi (artichokes) are well broken and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Take of the heat and let cool slightly then place them into your food processor or blender.
Add to this the third garlic clove (good size) as well as 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup ricotta as well as a small amount of olive oil (2 T spoons). I like to add (optional) a small amount of cooking cream or panna da cucina but you can also use a low fat or light cream such as half and half coffee cream if you need to cut down on the calories...)
Blend until the dip is creamy and smooth and eccolo...
THE DIP NEEDS SOMETHING TO BE DIPPED INTO IT SO now comes the cheese crakers:
Sure you can buy something at the grocer but whats better than warm, home-made Italian cheese crackers?
You'll need:
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup crated parmigiano
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 T spoons olive oil
- Rosemary or tyme
- 1 T spoon salt and 1 t spoon black pepper.
- Seranwrap (that clear plastic that drives me bonkers)
Start off by adding the parmigiano cheese and the butter together in a small bowl and mix together. Then in another medium size bowl, add the flour, rosemary or tyme, salt & pepper together along with the olive oil and mix together. When you have a good homogenous consistency, add the cheese and butter to this and form a dough ball.
On a wooden surface form a log shape form with this dough about 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter and roll this log so that it is compact onto the seranwrap and close the wrap so that it is rather tight. Place in your freezer for about 20-25 minutes and will explain why the freezer part below.
Heat your over to about 375F. Remove the log you made above and place on a wooden cutting board and with a clean and very thin cutting knife make about 1/4 inch slices from the log. Place the slices (or your soon to be Italian crackers on parchment paper (on a good size cookie sheet). Cook in heated over for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and place these wonders on a big plate for a super antipasto or pre-game special with your artichoke dip.
ENJOY!
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