Ravioli vs. Tortellini {Lemon Mushroom & Spinach Pancetta}

Will all the dedicated pasta lovers please stand up?

Yea, you. I'm talking to you. I'll even stand with you if it makes ya feel better. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love pasta. It's carby, gluteny, and absorbs buttery things realllll well, y'all. It's almost summer though. I should be making/eating fresh things. Clean things. Summery things. So what gives?

Well, last week I was reading drooling over pictures and recipes at Beyond the Flavor and stumbled across this gem: Duck Confit Tortellini. Holy yum.

Naturally, my recipe-creating juices started flowing and I decided that tortellinis had to happen, stat. I toyed around with the idea of Boursin and duck confit and back-and-forth with a few other flavor combos. I settled on two versions -- a lemony mushroom one and a garlicky, spinach pancetta one.

Why these flavors? I challenged myself to make summer-style tortellinis. When I eat pasta, I often find the dishes to be delicious and well-crafted, but I also find them to be rich. And heavy. Rich in such a way that after eating them, I feel like a stuffed Christmas goose ready for basting. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy that feeling from time-to-time, but more often than not, it just ain't enjoyable.

I wanted my tortellinis to taste fresh, while also satisfying my carby craving.

Don't let sheets of pasta deter you from making these yummies. Many Whole Foods locations sell pasta cut (or not) to your liking -- I may have mentioned my love for this service here.

If you don't have a Whole Foods in your area, try searching for local pasta vendors. Richmonders, I used pasta sheets from Bombolini because I just didn't feel like making pasta dough (keeping it real). The next time I make this, I may use this recipe or this recipe for pasta dough, and this tool, this tool, or this tool to make much prettier raviolis. The stamp seems more practical for me because it eliminates the need for an egg wash to seal the edges. 

In case you haven't noticed, the initial plan was to make tortellinis. After purchasing my pasta sheets from Bombolini, I realized that they were far too thick to make tortellinis. Solution? Raviolis with a biscuit cutter. Because this blog is about successes and flops, you can find my pretty hideous tortellinis below. Only took two of those for me to change my game-plan. 

It doesn't matter if you decide to make tortellinis or raviolis, we all know that what really matters is the filling. 

Lemon Mushroom Filling (enough filling for 48 raviolis or tortellinis - 1 tsp filling/each)

What You'll Need

• 3-4oz. mixed mushrooms (mine were cremini, porcini, and chanterelle)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 C pecorino, shredded
• 1 C ricotta cheese

How To Make It

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper to the butter and sauté until softened.
• Add sautéed mushrooms, lemon zest, and pecorino to a food processor and pulse/blend until a "dip" consistency forms.
• Empty mixture into a bowl and fold in ricotta cheese.

Spinach Pancetta Filling (enough filling for 48 raviolis or tortellinis - 1 tsp filling/each)

What You'll Need

• 1 bag spinach
• 1 package pancetta (about six slices)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 C parmesan, shredded
• 1 C ricotta cheese

How To Make It

• Chop pancetta and add to a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crispy.
• Using a slatted spoon, remove pancetta from the pan and allow to rest.
• Add spinach to left over pancetta grease and wilt down. 
• Add minced garlic to the wilted spinach and toss to coat. 
• Add pancetta, wilted spinach with garlic, and parmesan to a food processor and pulse/blend until a "dip" consistency forms. 
• Empty mixture into a bowl and fold in ricotta cheese.

Ravioli

What You'll Need

• Pasta dough of your choosing or sheets of pre-made pasta. If you decide to buy it, tell the person at the counter what you're making and that you need it pressed thin, especially if you're making tortellinis.
• A cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to make your ravioli/tortellini rounds (I used a 3" biscuit cutter).
• Sheet pan for your completed raviolis to rest on. 
• Flour for coating your surface and your pans so that the dough doesn't stick and to ensure that the raviolis/tortellinis don't stick to one another.
• 1 egg - you will need an egg wash to seal the filling between the pasta sheets. 

How To Make It

• Flour the surface that you will be cutting your ravioli rounds on. Also, flour your sheet pant for your completed raviolis. 
• Before cutting your sheets, have a plan as to how many rounds you will be able to get from one sheet. 
• Start cutting. You can either cut all the sheets at once and then fill them, or cut one sheet and fill one sheet, cut one sheet and fill one sheet, and so on. I prefer the latter method, so that your pasta doesn't dry out before you get to filling them. 
• Crack an egg in a bowl and mix to combine the yolk and the white. 
• Once you're ready to fill, using a teaspoon, spoon your mixture into the center of one disc. Using a brush or your finger, spread egg wash along the outer edge of each disc and seal together. You want to make sure that the "pocket" containing your filling has no air in it that can escape while cooking. Repeat this process until you have made 48 raviolis or to your liking.
• When ready to eat, boil a pot of salted water adding five raviolis at a time and cook for 7 to 8 minutes. You can add a touch of butter or a little olive oil to the boiling water to keep the raviolis from sticking to one another.

My biggest fear was that my edges weren't sealed well enough and that my delicious filling was gonna spew out into my boiling water. I'm happy to report that they faired just fine.

To complete the pancetta spinach raviolis, just melt some butter in a pan on the stove and sprinkle garlic salt into the butter, then drizzle over top the raviolis. Top with a little shredded parmesan and you're good to go.

To complete the lemon mushroom raviolis, make the lemon cream sauce below, and top with fresh lemon zest and shredded pecorino.

Lemon Cream Sauce

What You'll Need

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 C whipping cream or half & half
• 1/8 C fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest

How To Make It

• Melt butter in a small sauce pan.
• Add cream to the melted butter and simmer for a minute or two.
• Once simmering, add the lemon juice and lemon zest and continue to simmer for another minute.
• Remove from heat and drizzle over mushroom raviolis.

One good thing about both of these fillings is that they can be used in various dishes such as plain pasta noodles or as a dip for crackers. I had leftovers of each, but the spinach one is perfect on crackers! I will definitely be making it in the future to take to get-togethers. It's also good on bread, a spoon, or a finger! Not that I know or anything. The mushroom one is pretty divine on pita chips. Even if making raviolis isn't your thing, these would make perfect party dips for any occasion!

O and the lemon cream sauce? Yea, you can soak it up real nice with some crusty bread and make a meal off just that.

The best part? These fillings are delicious and refreshing -- just serve these summer-style raviolis with a side salad and you've got a wonderful summer-time dinner. 

If you want more information on tortellini/ravioli making, try visiting this site for some useful tid-bits.

Have you ever made ravioli? If so, what kinds of fillings did you make? Were they meaty or cheesy? Did you use any special tools to make them?

-Sue

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish Sauce - St. Patty's Day Delight

Guess what? 

I'm on Spring Break! 

The last one I'll ever have - boooo!

The bright side? Next year I'll be on clinical rotations and then the year after that -- wait for it -- I'll be a pharmacist! Time is sorta flying if I think about it, but when I'm up all night studying I'm all, "Oh em gee this process is never ending!"

Anyways - who's gearing up for St. Patrick's Day? I hope you're all saying, "Me! ME! Me! I am, I am!" I kinda love St. Patty's Day. I mean -- what other day can you dress up in green, talk in an accent, eat delicious food, consume wonderful libations, and do it all with your closest friends? There IS no other day! Seize it people, you'll be sorry if you don't. 

For Richmonders, Shamrock the Block is probably one of (if not) the first outdoor festival of the year -- we love our outdoor festivals in Richmond. Each year, my friends do a huge Irish brunch complete with Guinness, Irish Car Bombs, green mimosas and beer. It's an awesome time to say the least. Around noon, we walk on down to the festival (perks of friends living in Church Hill) and scope out our spot -- last year it was at good 'ol Rosie's. By the end of the day, we're all grateful that we stuffed our faces that morning.

In previous years, one of our friends always made the corned beef and cabbage. What's the problem this year? She moved! Such a bummer any way you look at it, especially since she's the most fun out of all of us AND her corned beef was the most delicious ever. 

My solution? I'll make it. 

What? 

Yea. That's right. 

I couldn't just show up this weekend with a corned beef that I had never tried, so last weekend I studied about a million recipes and pins to test things out. Here's my product. It's delicious. It's easy. You can't go wrong. If you do, call me up and have some beer waiting for me -- I'll help ya out. 

O and one more thing -- what's corned beef and cabbage without some horseradish sauce? NOTHING. You have to make this. I'd keep it in my fridge year round if I could. 

I can. 

But I shouldn't. 

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage 

What You'll Need

• ~3 lb corned beef brisket - in brine 
• Yes, this matters. Let's talk brisket for a second. There's beef brisket and corned beef brisket. The difference? Beef brisket is plain and unseasoned. It's just beef. Corned beef brisket has sat in a brine, flavorings and spices have been added, etc. You can certainly purchase a beef brisket and brine it/season it yourself and then cook accordingly to achieve this dish, buuuuut that would take me forever and ain't nobody got time for that. Just google around or look on Pinterest, there are various beef brisket brine recipes (say that three times fast) out there.
• 14 to 16 C cold water
• 2 or 3 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 2 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1 small head of cabbage or ~1/2 large head of cabbage - cut into thick wedges
• 1 and 1/2 lbs. small, new potatoes (~11 potatoes) - halved 
• My grocer didn't have new potatoes, so I opted for baby yukon golds instead - new potatoes will have a better flavor/thinner skin.
• 1 small bag of baby carrots 
• Ground pepper to taste
• Guinness to accompany your meal -- it's a must.

How To Make It

• Preheat your oven to 300F.
• Using a colander in your sink, remove the corned beef from the package and rinse with cold water. There will be a flavor packet of seasonings somewhere inside -- just toss it out.
• Once your meat is rinsed, add your corned beef to a dutch oven with a tight lid or a stock pot with a tight lid. The dutch oven I had on hand was only 6 quarts -- you really need something 8 to 10 quarts to ensure your meat has enough room with liquid inside. 
• Next, add ~16 cups of cold water to your meat and pot. 
• On the stovetop, bring your pot to a boil. As it begins to boil, skim off the crud that begins to surface. 
• Now you can add all of your spices -- cloves, bay leaves, allspice berries, and peppercorns. Just an fyi -- if you deviate to much from this spice list, such as adding a lot more or less of any one thing, it will dramatically change the flavor profile of the dish. That's not a bag thing, just a heads up. "Whole" spices are very potent and flavorful which is why you don't need a lot. Adding them once you've skimmed the crud off will ensure that you don't remove any that accidentally float to the top.
• Once your spices have been added, allow to bubble for a minute or two. 
• Next, add your pot with a tight fitting lid to a 300F oven and cook for 3 hours and 40 minutes. 
• When the meat is done, remove the meat from the pot and allow to rest on a serving dish/cutting board while your veggies cook. Make sure you cover it tightly in foil. 
• Place your pot with cooking liquid back on the stove top and bring to a rapid simmer/slow boil. 
• Add in your carrots, then potatoes, then cabbage leaving one to two minutes between each. Cabbage takes the least amount of time to cook and you don't want it to become mushy. After cooking for about ~10 to 15 minutes, remove veggies from liquid and reserve some liquid for serving.
• All done - enjoy!

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

What You'll Need

• 1/4 C + 1/8C sour cream
• 1/4 C + 1/8C mayonnaise 
• 1/8 C + 2 tbsp. jarred grated horseradish with liquid (often found near the eggs/dairy at your grocer)
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• Lots of fresh ground black pepper

How To Make It

• Throw it all in a bowl and you're done! This sauce recipe can easily be doubled or more for larger crowds. One thing is for certain -- it's necessary. I like lots of horseradish and lots of lemon, so the more the better in my opinion. 

How many can you serve with this recipe? I'd say six healthy servings or eight proportional servings result. Variations for the entree? Some people use red potatoes, some don't use carrots or potatoes at all, some use a combination of these spices in addition to others, or leave a few out, and some even use Guinness. Horsey sauces vary too with the addition of mustard and various vinegars. As you can see, the possibilities are endless! 

Serving options? You could serve this with soda bread on the side and some fresh ground mustard if horsey sauce really isn't your thing. I'm not Irish and I've never had someone show me how to brine brisket or how an actual Irishman might cook their beef, but I do know one thing -- what I made is tender and melts in your mouth and that's good enough for me.

Seriously, what's easier than this? 

This dish isn't reserved just for St. Patty's Day - try it out at home for your family or perhaps for you and the loved one!

-Sue 

Avocado + Buffalo Chicken = Super Bowl Yummies

Hey there - hope your week is off to a great start!

I'm sure you probably watched the Super Bowl this weekend or tuned in in some capacity. Maybe you caught some of the commercials, or perhaps Beyonce's Super Bowl performance? Either way, the Super Bowl is pretty much an American holiday - at least it should be. Who's with me?

Aside from the flashy lights, NFL rivalries, and half-time performances, the only other thing more important? The food. Yep. Have you ever seen those statistics about how much pizza, wings, and avocados that we consume on Super Bowl Sunday? Talk about crazy! Go here if you haven't.

In normal fashion, I had to contribute to those statistics.

Let's talk guacamole. I am in love with it. Like seriously. We're dating. We've been going steady for a while now. I'll share him though.

Whew. Feels good to get that off my chest.

So who has the best moley? Personally, I'm a fan of Chipotle's guacamole, closely followed by Whole Foods' housemade, creamy, green goodness. Sunday morning I used my Google skills to try and find the closest version of Chipotle's guac. Much to my surprise I found this. HOW have I never found this site in all of my years of food blog/website stalking reading? Doesn't matter. Now I've found it and all of my restaurant faves will be made. That could be a good thing . . . or it could be a bad thing.

You can follow the recipe below/watch the video for the best illustration of how to make this. Just remember, don't be greedy with my guacamole - I'm sharing, remember? :)

Chipotle's Deliciously Addicting Guacamole

What You'll Need

• 6 large, ripe avocados - peeled and pitted 
• 3 cups fresh cilantro - chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh red onion - finely chopped
• 12 large serrano chilies - seeded and finely chopped
• 12 teaspoons fresh citrus juice - lime and lemon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

How To Make It

• Slice, pit, and peel your avocados out into a bowl. 
• Sprinkle salt over avocados.
• Juice your limes and lemons and add about 7 to 8 teaspoons of lime juice and 4 to 5 teaspoons of lemon juice to the mixture. 
• Use a potato masher or pastry dough blender to mash the avocados just slightly. 
• Chop cilantro, serranos, and onions and add to bowl. 
• Use potato masher or pastry dough blender to completely mix ingredients.
• The result? Smooth, delicious guacamole. 

See how easy that is?! Now for a few tips. Use 4 to 5 avocados that are ripe and 1 to 2 that are slightly under-ripe to achieve the best texture. Also, I don't like as much cilantro so I cut it and the salt down just a tad.

You don't need Super Bowl Sunday as a reason to make this! Make it on Sundays to have throughout the week. You could use it on Mexican/taco nights, for healthy snacking, or maybe add a spoonful to a warm bowl of chili!

Tomorrow I'll have the recipe up for Buffalo Chicken Dip - a recipe for which I'm known!

-Sue