Rosie's Last Homemade Meal For A While. It's Whole Wheat Pasta Dough. Ravioli And Cannelloni.

Sunday morning, I awoke to a glorious rainy day. There's nothing I like better to do on a rainy day than have a cooking project. I'm making pasta today.

Ingredients for pasta dough: 1 pound flour 4 eggs about 1/4 cup water olive oil

Kathy, you'll be happy to know that I'm using whole wheat flour for my pasta. : )

First make a well in the flour. Action shot (!) of egg going into flour.

Add in the 4 eggs.

Whup a bit with a fork.

Then pull the outside flour to the center with your hands while turning the bowl.

You'll know by the feel when you need to add some liquid I poured in a little bit of EVOO. That's Extra Virgin Olive Oil!

When you're able to, turn the shaggy mess o' dough onto your cutting board.

I made a well and poured in a little water and kept working the dough, kneading it.

You can see by the texture that it's just coming together. Add in some OO. That's Olive Oil!! Keep kneading. And you will be rewarded ...

... with a lovely ball of pasta dough.

Cover and let rest at least 30 minutes. While the dough was resting, I started on my filling.

I put a pound of spinach leaves in my steamer ...

... and steamed 'em for a few minutes. Squeeze out the water and chop.

Ingredients for the filling: 1 cup cooked, squuzzed, and chopped spinach 1 pound crab meat 2 ounces cream cheese 2 ounces goat cheese 1/2 cup Ricotta 4 ounces mozzarella, grated

Mix cream cheese, goat cheese, and ricotta.

Add in squuzzed and chopped spinach.

Mix the cheeses and spinach and have your significant other grate the cheese. They must be good for something. Let them feel good about themselves. Give 'em a menial job.

Add in mozzarella to the spinach/cheese mix.

Crab meat goes in last. Pick through your crab for errant shell material.

Billy's Seafood was out of claw meat which is the cheapest and what I use for dishes like this. You get a large chunk of crab with the claw meat. I had to buy the more expensive, harder to pick backfin meat Backfin was $11/pound. Claw is usually $9/pound. Whenever you add in crab meat to a mixture, do so very gently. Fold it in. You want to keep the crab in chunks. Not pulverize it. Now, on to the ravioli. The last time I made ravioli, I lamented about my sloppiness.

I took my pasta dough and sliced it into four pieces. Slimmed out the first one and ran it through #1 setting (widest) twice, from the front then turned it over and ran through the back. Turn the pasta machine to #2 setting and run it through twice. #3 #4 I stop at #4.

When you get to #4 ...

... drape the dough over top of the ravioli frame. About $12 on Amazon.

Take the egg carton which comes with it and press into the frame.

Fill with afore-made crabmeat mixture.

Drape another sheet of pasta over top.

Using your fingers (best way) or using Sandy's nephew, Brycer's, miniature rolling pin, press the ravioli dough around the frame.

Leave the filling alone.

Sandra Lee reference: I always thought Brycer's miniature rolling pin was a euphemism. It wasn't. It was about Aunt Sandy's nephew's actual miniature rolling pin. Apparently, at the time, Brycer was a BoobyFlayWannabee.

I trimmed off the excess on the ravioli press.

I was wondering about how the ravioli were going to release from the form. We turned the ravioli frame over and the one end started releasing very easily.

Perfect little ravioli. Soon to be crab-filled clouds.

Had to do another batch. Ravioli is over. On to CANNELLONI! Next, I had Mr. Hawthorne take the dough I'd run out through my pasta maker, two times, back and forth, on settings one through four. This takes four hands. At least.

Mr. Hawthorne carefully cut an even strip of my whole wheat pasta, going into my new cannelloni attachment for my pasta maker.

He's quite diligent.

He folds the strip over to make a bottom pocket ...

... and inserts it into the new cannelloni attachment.

Crab meat filling goes in. We don't know how much to put in and we have found out that knowing the proper amount will take a bit of effort.

The first two cannelloni were filled, goodly.

We have to figure out this cannelloni thingie. Just how much filling to put in the pocket.

Here's our first attempt.

Our cannelloni. Let's go on to my Pseudo-Bechamel-Sauce.Sauce for the ravioli and cannelloni. I wanted a light sauce. We're talking homemade pasta and fresh crabmeat. I decided on a Quasi-Bechamel.

My ingredients for the sauce: chopped onion chopped red pepper chopped parsley chopped mushrooms milk sliced Brie flour butter white wine nutmeg

Sizzle butter and add sliced shrooms.

Cook 'em.

Add in red pepper and onion.

Put in some freshly ground s & p and a bit more buttah.

A tablespoon plus of flour. Cook it for at least a minute to get the raw out.

Slowly add milk.

Stir over low heat and let thicken.

A little white wine or sherry always helps.

Add in the Brie.

Grate some nutmeg.

Boil the ravioli. About 2-3 minutes.

Steam the broccoli.

Plate it. Rav and cann.

Take the plate OUTSIDE to shoot it. The light is NOT RIGHT.

I am tired. I give up.

The ravioli was very good. The cannelloni would have been better served with a sausage/veal/pork mixture stuffed in with a tomato sauce.

The ravioli was damn good.

We're leaving tomorrow morning. Wish us well. I'm exhausted.