Friday, May 29, 2015

Rosie Is Making Homemade Kale Pasta Dough For Stuffed Ravioli.

Mr. Hawthorne gave me a pasta attachment
for my Kitchen Aid and I've been happily
producing homemade pasta.
This certainly beats the hand-cranked machine
that clamped to the counter and required 4 or more hands
to actually use the darn thing.
Plus I created a ridiculous mess
with all the extra flour I needed to throw onto the pasta
as I processed it.
Now, it only takes two hands and I've got the process down.
And I actually got past setting #5 to setting #6!

In case you're interested,
here's my fettuccini I made last time with a tomato cream sauce.


Today, I'm going for ravioli
 stuffed with a spinach, ricotta, and Parmesan filling.
And if you're going to be making this filling,
start the day before.
I always drain my ricotta overnight.
Line a fine sieve with cheesecloth and drop the ricotta in.
Place in another bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Let it drain.

I still have kale in the garden,
so I'll be making a kale pasta dough.

I'm making two sauces for my ravioli -
a tomato sauce with onion, peppers, and fresh herbs
and a fried sage butter sauce.

That's how good it was.


Went out to the garden and picked a large colander full of kale.
Wash well.

Stem the kale.

Kale Pasta Dough
2 cups AP flour
1 cup semolina flour
big colander full of kale, stemmed and cooked
3 eggs
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp lemon-infused olive oil

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot.
Add in kale and cook about an hour, until tender.
Drain, squeeze out as much moisture as you can, and chop.
In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flours.
In a processor, pulse the eggs, kale, pepper, and oil.
Pour egg mixture mixture into flours and process
until you have a cohesive dough.
You need to get a feel for the dough.
You want it elastic and smooth.
Sometimes you may need to add in a bit of water,
a tablespoon at a time, if your dough is too stiff.
Cover dough with a damp towel and let rest 20-30 minutes.
Process according to directions on your pasta maker.

Cover and let rest while you prepare the sauces.

Tomato Sauce
1 TB unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped multi-colored peppers
1 14.5-oz. can of tomato chunks
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 TB chopped fresh chives
1 TB chopped fresh oregano
1 TB chopped fresh thyme
1 TB chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter over medium heat in medium skillet.
Add in onion and peppers and sauté for 2 minutes.
Pour in tomatoes and sauce and add herbs.
Reduce heat to low.
Let heat at least 30 minutes, 
stirring occasionally, to let the flavors develop.

Let it develop flavors.

Back to my pasta dough.
Divide into four loaves.
I decided to roll it through chopped parsley
for extra flavor and the green flecks.

Ravioli Filling
1 TB unsalted butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
8 ounces fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 cups ricotta, drained overnight

Melt butter and sauté onion for a minute.
Add in spinach and let it wilt.
Let cool, then add spinach mixture to ricotta.
Add in egg and Parmesan
Mix well.


Mix well.
Cover and refrigerate while you make the pasta.

Here's my process:
Roll out the dough a bit, lightly sprinkling flour, as needed.

This is the first pass through my pasta attachment.
On the first pass, I fold the dough and roll it back through.
Repeat from the other direction.

For each setting,
I roll the dough through twice, in each direction.
Lightly flour if needed.
I'm proud of myself.
Made it to Setting #6!
Usually I stop at #5.

Add filling plops along pasta sheet.
Brush outside edges and in between plops with water.

Place another pasta sheet on top, seal, and cut.

I know.
I'm not the neatest ravioli maker.


Cover and refrigerate.

I had more dough,
so I'm running it through the fettuccini attachment.
Rosie is messy.
Flour is everywhere.

Why not try spaghetti?
Hang on a dowel to dry a bit.

Next, I'm making a fried sage butter sauce for the ravioli.
Fried Sage Butter Sauce
Melt 1/2 stick unsalted butter in a small skillet.
When foamy and sizzling,
 add in a bunch of fresh sage leaves.
Cook until butter slightly browns
and leaves are crisp.
Remember, I have an herbed tomato sauce too.

Let's cook ravioli!
Drop the little packets, one at a time, in salted, boiling water.
Action shots!
The ravioli will float to the surface in about three minutes.
Taste test for done-ness
Drain and remove from pot.

I sweetened my tomato sauce 
with a little starchy water from the ravioli.
Drop some ravioli into the tomato sauce.

Drop some into the sage butter sauce.
And action!
Top with sliced scallions and Parmesan.
Butter-fried sage leaves.


I'm saving the fettuccini and spaghetti for something else wonderful later.
Stay tuned to find out what.

The best thing about pasta is that the leftovers can be even better!