Inside My Mid-life Crisis

 

Mushroom Ravioli ala Mimi                                                                         Jill Brothers

 

I am teaching my granddaughter how to cook. Recently we made homemade mushroom ricotta ravioli.

And it was amazing!

 

Now you do NOT have to be a pasta dough expert to do this. I found a very simple and excellent recipe using your stand mixer: https://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-homemade-pasta-or-spaghetti-for-kitchenaid-mixers-288125?ic1=suggestedAsset%7Cperfect%20homemade%20pasta%20for%20kit

I have made both ravioli and fettucine with this recipe and it turned out great every time.

Start the process by making your pasta dough. The dough needs to rest at room temp at least 30 minutes so do it first.

I used Semolina flour and Double “OO” flour, not just AP flour. It is worth it to get these 2 flours but don’t NOT try it with just AP flour. Follow the directions from the recipe link. 

When your dough comes together in the mixer remove it and kneed a few times to form the nice ball. Then wrap in plastic wrap and set aside to rest.

Next I made the filling. I coarsely chopped 3 cups cremini mushrooms and sautéed with 1 minced shallot and a couple chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil. I did this low and slow string frequently so that most of the moisture came out of the mushrooms.

 Then move the mushrooms to the food processor add a cup of ricotta cheese and half cup shredded parmesan. Next buzz them up almost to a paste but not totally smooth.

Once your filling is ready set aside and start making pasta sheets. Cut a chunk off your dough ball (about ¼ of the ball), re-wrap the rest in plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Make your pasta sheets running the dough through the pasta maker starting at setting one and finishing on setting 6 or 7. I liked 7.  I have the pasta attachment for my mixer which is really cool and makes this a faster process. I also have an Atlas “old School” hand crank which still works just great but harder to do if you don’t have a helper to crank while you feed.

 Here is my granddaughter making the pasta sheets. She LOOOVES it when Nana takes pics (NOT)

 Lay your sheet on a flat surface, with a second sheet to cover or plan to fold your sheet over so allow room for there to be edges and the filling won’t come out.

Drop your filling by spoonful’s or if you have a cookie press or pastry bag you can employ any of those to place your filling on the pasta sheet. Fold over or place the second sheet on top of the first sheet with the filling, gently press down around each bit of filling to seal and get the air out.

Cut the raviolis apart and move to a parchment paper lined sheet pan with a bit of corn meal spread on it so they don’t stick.

I have a neato ravioli stamp, you can use a wheel or even a cookie cutter.

Pick up the extra dough after you cut your raviolis and add to the next cut of dough from the ball. Repeat the steps until you use everything up!

To cook drop in salty boiling water, they float when they are done (a couple minutes is all!) Enjoy with your favorite sauce! And yes, a wine for me please!