We made Hand made ravioli for this week’s Heinen’s “4PM Panic” recipe.  Some days boiling water is all I have time for but today we opted for fresh pasta. My son Mark loves to make anything in the kitchen with me so when I suggested making pasta he was totally up for it. I think he equally loves to eat and figures this is the best way to get fed.  Today’s his 16th Birthday.  Happy Birthday sweet boy!  Teens can be fickle and incredibly busy.  I feel so lucky that mine still want to spend time with me doing anything.  Saturday morning we decided to have a breakfast instagram challenge.  We were making poached eggs with avocado toast.  I told them they could raid the props and style it any way the want and use their iPhone to photograph it.  It was so fun to watch their creative process and choices.  Mary picked a container I wouldn’t have so I asked her why she chose that piece.  When she said she liked the look of it I quickly realized that I needed to keep my control freak mouth shut and let this play out organically.  They had a blast and did a great job.  Cooking and now styling and photographing with my kids gives us time together that I will forever cherish.  This weekend Mark, Mary and I went to the movies.  I asked Mark if it was cool to be seen at the movies on a weekend with his Mom.  His reply made my day, “I could care less what anyone thinks, I love hanging out with you Mom” I can’t embarrass him any further because I think he and his friends follow my blog but Thanks, Mark…love you too. 

 
Fresh Ravioli With Oregano Bread Crumbs

INGREDIENTS

• 20 ounces fresh ricotta cheese
• 4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped baby portable mushrooms
• 1  cup chopped fresh baby spinach
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 egg plus 1 egg whisked with 1 TBS water for assembling raviolis
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 recipe Classic fresh egg pasta see note below
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving
• 4 TBS butter for serving
• Oregano bread crumbs for serving, recipe below

METHOD

• Drain all liquid from ricotta cheese.  You can use a clean kitchen towel to squeeze the moisture out or a fine mesh sieve.
• Add Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, nutmeg, and lemon juice to ricotta. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• Meanwhile, divide dough into four even sections.
• (Note: when making your dough if it seems dry add more egg.  Today when I made the pasta my eggs must have been smaller or I was heavy handed with the flour because the dough was too dry and I had to start over.  You want your dough to be easily workable.)
• Working one section at a time, with remaining sections tightly wrapped in plastic, roll dough through machine until sheet is just under 1/16th of an inch thick (typically second-to-last setting). Cut sheet in half to create 2 pieces of dough roughly 15 inches long and 5 inches across.
• If using a ravioli mold: Place first sheet of dough over metal base. Gently and evenly press plastic mold down to make depressions in dough. Remove and fill each depression with approximately 1 tablespoon filling. Rap mold once or twice to remove any air bubbles. Place second sheet of dough over surface and pat down. Run rolling pin over dough until ridges beneath become visible. Flip the mold over and gently peel it away. If ravioli remain stuck, rap edge of mold on table. If ravioli do not separate easily, use fluted ravioli cutter to complete perforation. Cover ravioli with towel to prevent drying. Repeat with remaining dough and continue to step 6.
• If working by hand: Fold first sheet along its midline to make a light crease and re-open. Place 6 heaping tablespoons half-inch apart along length of lower half. Moisten upper half with pastry brush dipped in egg and water mixture and fold over, pressing down to remove air bubbles and create a seal around filling. Using fluted ravioli cutter or kitchen knife, cut between filling for 6 even squares. Cover ravioli with towel to prevent drying. Repeat with remaining dough.
• At this point, ravioli can be frozen: place ravioli on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and freeze completely. Transfer to a freezer bag, press out as much air as possible, and store in freezer for up to 2 months. Frozen ravioli can be cooked straight from frozen (add 30 seconds to cooking time).
• To cook ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook ravioli by submerging in boiling water and cooking for 3 minutes (ravioli should float). Drain pasta.
• In a large sauté pan melt butter until slightly brown but do not burn. Add olive oil then gently place cooked ravioli into the sauté pan. Toss for about 2 minutes then add bread crumbs and serve sprinkled with the bread crumbs.

Oregano Brown Butter Bread Crumbs

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the bread crumbs, oregano, salt + pepper and cook, stirring for 4-5 minutes or until toasted and golden. Remove the bread crumbs from the pan. Can be saved in an air tight container for about a week.  These are great on any pasta or use to coat chicken, steak or fish.

This was simple and delicious.  To be honest, when we decided to make this dish we planned to sauté spinach with the butter and raviolis then top each serving with crumbled goat cheese.  We got so wrapped up in the process and how good the ravioli’s were that it wasn’t until we looked at the photos that we realized that we had forgotten the spinach and goat cheese.  Thats how we roll.  We mess up and keep rolling.  If you decide to add our forgotten ingredients leave a comment to let us know how it tasted.

Enjoy!