HOMEMADE MUSHROOM RAVIOLI

This recipe is one of my daughter’s favorite Italian dishes – when we go out she always requests mushroom ravioli. Last night she really wanted me to make it at home for dinner. I hadn’t made them before but why not? Let’s give it a try! I make a lot of ravioli but I’d not yet tried these. They were awesome. There wasn’t a single ravioli left, which is a pretty good compliment, considering I’d made a double batch.

I mostly had to guess on ingredients and technique but the net result was awesome.

I also complimented the ravioli with a white wine cream sauce. As luck would have it, I had a few partial bottles gifted to me by Reggie, after Pig-a-Palooza. Even luckier is that we had to have a little taste test between the three varietals to see which flavor would complement the mushroom flavor best. We settled on the Anko Torrontes 2011, an Argentinian wine with a really nice floral/citrus flavor. I found the floral flavor of the wine in the cream sauce really enhanced the flavor of the mushroom filling.

I made my own pasta (a double batch worth) but you could also use pre-made, refrigerator pasta. Hint: If you don’t have access to fresh pasta, use won ton wrappers. Don’t worry, I won’t tell, and they won’t know.

Ravioli Mushroom Filling

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
16 oz. mushrooms
¼ yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh oregano
4 fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup freshly grated parmesean cheese
¼ cup freshly grated romano cheese
½ cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg

Rough chop mushrooms, dice onions and mince garlic. Destem thyme, destem and chop oregano and basil – set aside. Grate cheeses – set aside.

Preheat large skillet to medium heat. Melt together butter and oil. Add, at once, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all moisture cooks out of mushroom mixture and remove from heat.

Once cooled, mix in thyme, oregano, basil, parmesean, romano, mozzarella and egg. Combine well (around 1 minute).

Now, prepare the pasta:

Homemade Pasta

2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 egg yolks plus one egg (for egg wash)
6-8 tablespoons water (filtered if your water quality is poor)

Mix together flour and salt. Drop in egg yolks and mix until well combined. Add in water, a tablespoon at a time, allowing mixture to blend 30 seconds in between additions.

Once the mixture looks like this (below) stop adding water!

Continue mixing dough until it looks like this (around 2-3 minutes). Form dough ball by hand and let it rest a few minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into balls and flatten. Roll dough out as thinly as possible, then drop mushroom filling by ½ tablespoons on half the dough.

I like to use this ring mold to space out my dough. Beat one egg and brush egg wash around the edges of the filling.

Place half the rolled pasta on top of the other half and press around the edges of the filling. Cut out ravioli with ring mold and crimp with similar sized ravioli crimper or fork, if you don’t have a crimper.

The sauce:

2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 cloves minced garlic
½ tablespoon flour
1 cup white wine
1 cup whipping cream
½ cup milk
Shredded mozzarella cheese (for garnish)

Preheat sautee pan to medium heat. Melt together 1 tablespoon butter, oil, garlic and salt.

Once garlic turns translucent, stir in flour and cook around 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in wine and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer one minute. Stir in whipping cream and milk. Bring to a simmer, allow to simmer one minute, remove from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon of butter. Allow sauce to rest several minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile:

Boil ravioli for a few minutes. Once the ravioli rise to the top of the water, they are done. I always recommend testing one first, just to judge cooking time. Once ravioli is done, using a slotted spoon, transfer them onto dishes, or serve family style on a large platter. Drizzle sauce over ravioli and top with a little shredded mozzarella cheese.

Frozen Ravioli

Want to save your ravioli for another day? Ravioli can be made in advance and frozen for up to 3 months. Once ravioli is prepared (not cooked), place them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil, parchment or waxed paper, 1/2 inch apart and put pan in freezer. Once frozen (around 2 hours), place ravioli in a Ziploc freezer bag and put back in the freezer. To reheat, bring water with a pinch of salt to a full rolling boil. Once boiling, cook frozen ravioli around 5 minutes or until done (test one first). Serve with sauce of your choice.

Fried Ravioli Appetizer

Want to use your frozen ravioli as an awesome appetizer instead? Preheat large skillet to medium heat and bring 1 inch of vegetable oil to temperature. Once hot, fry frozen ravioli in batches of 5 or 6, being sure not to crowd them in the pan, until golden brown. Transfer ravioli to a towel-lined plate and serve hot with a dipping sauce.

Eat Well!

~Trish