Egg & Herb Ricotta Ravioli

I was trying to think of some way to use up some leftover ricotta and decided to make egg yolk ravioli again. I adapted the filling from this delicious days days post.

 

And I’ve been looking forward to using the new ravioli mold my husband got for me.

 

Giant sage leaves (my herbs love their EarthBoxes), oregano, a little thyme, Parmigianino Reggiano, ricotta, nutmeg, extra virgin olive oil, pepper & salt for the filling.

 

I love this attachment for the microplane grater.

 

And this mini chopper my mother found for me at a garage sale.

 

It works well when you need herbs very finely and evenly chopped.

 

Ready to mix all the filling ingredients together.

 

I put this in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld while I made the pasta dough.

 

While surfing for egg yolk ravioli variations, I found a great post on total food processor pasta dough (no kneading) and was anxious to try it. The instructions may look overwhelming, but the actual method is easy and the detailed instructions are to help insure success and troubleshoot any problems. I found a similar post here – the instructions aren’t as detailed, but there are some helpful photos of the stages involved to show you what to expect.

 

 

Either the instructions were very good, or I’m very lucky. The dough was wonderful to work with on my first attempt. Not too sticky, not too dry.

 

No cracks, easy to handle with minimal flour.

 

Unfortunately, I put in a little too much of the filling trying to make a nice nest for the yolks. I tore the back, right “sling” while pushing the filling low enough to leave room for the yolk and the yolk slipped out the side.

 

I managed to retrieve the yolk from the counter by moistening the spoonula and my fingers with egg white and easing the yolk up onto the spoonula. As the ravioli with the yolks are so rich, I decided to only use eight. I put a sprinkle of P-R on each yolk to protect it while adding the top layer of dough. I used a pastry brush to paint some reserved egg white beaten with a bit of water to seal the dough.

 

I was afraid to push too hard with the rolling pin and risk disrupting the yolks so I sealed the dough by pressing along the seams and cutting them apart with a knife run along the cutting ridges.

 

One of the yolked raviola blew apart when I flipped the form over – hence the smeared yolk on the parchment paper. I also discarded the one the rescued yolk had escaped from. (It’s best to start this recipe with lots of extra eggs.)

 

I cut up some odd pieces of my pancetta-style bacon into near-lardons.

 

While cooking the bacon I made beurre noisette.

 

Then I fried some small sage leaves in the bacon fat for garnish.

 

Served with the beurre noisette, bacon, fried sage and a sprinkle of P-R. I wish I had thought to cut into one  and photograph it before my husband and I ate all of them. Oh well, it looked a lot like my first egg yolk ravioli:

 

I had enough filling and pasta left over to use the other, smaller form that my husband also got for me.

 

No yolks this time. I will freeze these for another day.

 

I love the little rolling pin that came with this form.

Chopped Liver

When I was in college, I was invited to a Jewish friend’s home for dinner.  His mother had made chopped liver for an appetizer.  It was a revelation – I had to tear myself away to save room for dinner.  I’ve been thinking of trying to recreate it for nearly 30 years and thanks to the Chicken & Dumplings I made recently, I actually had some schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) in the refrigerator!  I’m so glad I saved it.  I found what sounded like a good recipe from Ina Garten (Chopped Liver) on foodnetwork.

 

Schmaltz, onions, trimmed chicken livers.

 

Madeira and thyme.

 

Sautéing the livers in chicken fat!

 

The livers with the onions sautéed in chicken fat!

 

Added the Kosher salt, pepper, cayenne, and 4 hard-cooked organic free-range eggs (plus – not shown – more chicken fat!).  I wish I’d had the proper bowl and chopper to coarse chop the mixture as it’s hard not to over-do it in the food processor.

 

I wanted to give the chopped liver every chance to live up to my memory of it so I made some seeded rye bread (from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) to serve it on.

 

Free-form loaf.

 

And Dutch Oven-method boule in the oven after 15 minutes with the lid on to steam.

 

Cooling.

 

I love the smell of caraway seeds.

 

It was every bit as good as I remembered. Yes, with all that cholesterol, it may be “artery putty”; but as a very rare treat I think it’s worth it.

Chicken & Dumplings

I saw this on America’s Test Kitchen (Chicken and Dumplings). I had the ingredients for Brown Poultry Stock in the freezer and thought it would be nice to make homemade stock to use in it instead of store-bought chicken stock.

 

Golden-browned chicken thighs.

 

Parsley, thyme, onions, celery, and carrots. (I forgot to photograph the homemade stock, sherry, milk and bay leaves and the mise en place for the dumplings – I was getting really hungry about now).

 

Sweating the mirepoix.

 

Simmering the chicken.

 

I added some finely chopped parsley to the dumpling dough. I don’t have a photo of the plating; it smelled so wonderful, my husband and I devoured it before I thought to take a picture.

Brown Poultry Stock

I adapted this from Jacques Pépin’s Fast Food My Way, Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio, and Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition. It’s a great way to use the bones from a few rotisserie chickens.

 

Celery, carrots, and some leek tops and corn cobs I had saved in the freezer.

 

A few rotisserie chicken carcasses, a duck carcass, some turkey and duck “bits” (neck, gizzards).

 

Part way through roasting at 425 degrees F for about an hour. You don’t even need to peel the onions.

 

Bouquet garni of celery tops, parsley, thyme and bay leaves; plus a few peppercorns thrown in the pot.

 

Extracting the flavors with a bare simmer.

 

I strained it through a chinoise, refrigerated it, skimmed off the fat and froze what was left after reserving 4 1/2 cups to make Chicken & Dumplings.  I was able to freeze two quart jars, four pint jars and two ice cube trays (nice for roughly 2 tablespoons worth to add to sauces) of stock for very little effort.