Chicken Florentine Ravioli - My First Pass!

This past weekend I decided to pull out the pasta maker, complete with the ravioli attachment, and try my hand at making ravioli. The flavor of choice? Chicken Florentine, of course!

First thing to do was make the pasta dough which is great fun! I must say I love rolling the dough through the pasta maker, watching the texture get more perfect with each roll!

Here is a basic dough recipe worth trying!

1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width.

If you've never made homemade pasta before, take a look at this web page. Very good information!

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Making-Pasta-Dough/Detail.aspx

Beware, once you make pasta yourself, you will probably never buy it in the store again! The freshness of the homemade pasta just can't be beat!! You can make noodles without owning a pasta maker, however, I must say having this nifty little kitchen gadget does make the work a bit easier! And it's loads of fun!!

For the filling:
1 c. (4 oz.) ground cooked chicken
10 oz. fresh spinach, cooked, drained and chopped
3 tbsp. butter, melted
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of pepper

Combine chicken, spinach, and melted butter. Stir in cheese, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Set aside.

So the dough is ready and the filling is ready. Now to make the ravioli. Instead of hand cutting the ravioli, I tried using the ravioli attachment for my pasta maker. I was not that successful with it, I have to say and decided that when I make ravioli again, I will roll the dough, cut the dough, fill the ravioli and crimp the edges myself. I think, in the end, it will be less work and aggravation!

When your ravioli squares are complete using either method, cook ravioli in large pot of rapidly boiling salted water for 7 to 8 minutes or until tender. Rinse in cold water and drain well. Place in bowl and pour your favorite warmed marinara sauce over it. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Even though I had difficulty with the ravioli attachment, my efforts weren't totally wasted as I did get three very wonderful meals out of the experience. Plus I learned more about making pasta! And I have left-over noodles, perfect for that next batch of lasagna!!

Now, doesn't that bowl of ravioli look delicious? Trust me, it was! Add a Caesar Salad and warm garlic bread and you've got a meal!

Try making your own pasta at least once, you won't be disappointed.

Lasanon

The origin of Lasagna straight from Wikipedia - although the dish is generally believed to have originated in Italy, the word "lasagna" comes from the Greek λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot". The Romans borrowed the word as "lasanum", in Latin, meaning "cooking pot". The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagna is made. It wasn't long before the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish. Interesting, huh? Who knew?

So, on my holiday off last Monday as the country celebrated Columbus Day, I was determined to make my first pasta with my new pasta maker (how appropriate, huh?). And, of course, that pasta was going to be lasagna noodles because I was tasked with making lasagna for a luncheon we were having at work on Thursday. I figure it would be the best opportunity to see how the noodles would hold up, plus there would be tons of other dishes at the luncheon so in case my dish wasn't up to snuff, we all wouldn't starve to death!

I was terribly excited about my first adventure with the pasta maker. It's hard to believe it had been sitting on my kitchen table for the amount of time it had been there and I hadn't yet had the time to use it!

I proceeded to whip up a batch of dough using a recipe I found on the Internet. It had all-purpose flour, eggs, olive oil and water. I have since found a recipe by Mario Batali that I plan to use next time which is just all-purpose flour and eggs. I know, under Italian law, dry pasta (pasta secca) can only be made from durum wheat or semolina flour. I haven't found any yet but as soon as I do, that is what I'll use. Interesting enough, most of the pasta recipes I have seen in recipe books (including that of Maria Batali) just call for all-purpose flour. I guess since we aren't in Italy, it's okay to use it!

Anyway, rolling the dough through the rollers on the pasta maker was really fun. You push it through, all the while turning the handle to make the rollers roll. Then you move the rollers closer together, thus making the noodles flatter and flatter. Really fun! Obviously, it doesn't take alot to amuse me. :)

The end result is to the right. Umm, umm, right? And, yes, it was. We ate it yesterday, along with many other wonderful dishes, and I am happy to report that there were no left-overs. My first noodles were a success!

Actually, I'll be making another batch of lasagna for dinner guests Saturday night and will make the noodles fresh, cook them immediately, and assemble the lasagna at that time as well. I am also using a different recipe that touts itself as being the "world's best lasagna". I sure hope they're right! If nothing else, it will definitely be another fun adventure in the kitchen!

Gadget Girl Is At It Again!

Well, I couldn't stand it yesterday when I received an email from Williams Sonoma touting an Imperia Pasta Machine (made in Italy) they are exclusively offering at this time. It's so exclusive and so popular that it is now on backorder until September 11th.

I've been wanting a pasta machine for so long now - I just couldn't stand it. I had to order one. And the accompanying ravioli maker. Heck, if they offered more attachments, I probably would have ordered them as well! Yep, like I need another kitchen gadget (or two).

I honestly think I'm going to have to seek out a home loan to build an extension to my kitchen so I can house all these "extras" that I think I must have. Or I could bust out the wall between the kitchen and the guest bedroom and expand the kitchen that direction. Umm, now that's an idea!

In any event, isn't it a beauty (yes, I get excited about a new kitchen gadget)? I cannot wait to make some fresh, homemade, from scratch, spaghetti or linguine. I guess now I've got to get a pasta cookbook so I can figure out how to do this. (It's never ending, isn't it?) But it keeps me out of trouble and off the streets as my Mom might say. She used to say that about my Dad's hobby . . . deer hunting. And I'm sure she'd say it now about my hobby, cooking (and of course, Greyhounds).

I'll keep you posted on what delicious, low-fat, pasta dishes I come up with. Good thing the dogs like spaghetti, too!