pasta

Butternut Squash Ravioli

November 7, 2016

Butternut squash is probably one of my favorite things to cook with during the Fall! It is so versatile. I like to roast it in the oven and serve it along side some chicken or beef, puree it into a soup, or in this case make a filling for ravioli.

It had been a while since I made homemade ravioli, or pasta in general. I had forgotten how much better it is than the store bought stuff. Sure, it take a little more time and an investment in the proper equipment (I have this), but if you are willing to put in the effort, you will be rewarded greatly.

The pasta itself is actually pretty simple and only requires 2 ingredients (3 if you want to add salt): eggs and flour.

I start by piling the flour on to my cutting board the made a well right in the center. I would recommend making the well wide and shallow so that the eggs don’t leak out (like you can see in the picture above). Then I slowly start mixing the eggs and flour together, by whisking the eggs with a fork, then gradually mixing in a little flour at a time. At the same time, I push up the walls of the flour well until I have added in enough flour so that a loose, shaggy ball of dough has formed. At this point, I knead the dough with my hands, still adding in flour so until the dough is a little tacky and has formed a tight ball. I didn’t end up using all the flour in my original pile, but that’s okay. You just want enough flour to form a tacky ball. Adding too much flour will just yield a really dry and crumbly pasta.

Once it’s a nice dough ball, I just wrap it in some plastic wrap then let it rest in the refrigerator while I prep the filling.

The filling starts…you guessed it…butternut squash! I like to buy the pre-peeled, pre-chopped butternut squash from Trader Joes when I am in a pinch. If I had used the whole butternut squash, I would have started by peeling off the skin with a paring knife, cutting it in half, removing the seeds, then chopping it into big chunks.

I tossed the butternut squash chunks in some olive oil, then roasted them in the oven until they were tender. I then popped the roasted squash into a food processor with some garlic that I roasted along side the squash, Parmesan, and ricotta.

Once the filling was ready, I started rolling out the pasta dough. I start by feeding the dough through on the thickest, then each time changed it to the next setting down until it was about as thin as I wanted. My pasta roller has 6 settings, I rolled it to 5.

I layed out the long sheet of pasta dough on my counter then spooned a healthy portion of the filling out on the only dough, leaving enough room in between so that I could cut out each ravioli. To make sure the top layer of the dough would stick, I used a pastry brush to brush water around the filling. Once the other half of the dough was folded back over, I pressed the dough down around the filling to seal it in.

Once all the ravioli were ready, I dropped them into a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. They really don’t take long to cook, you have to watch them like a hawk. But you should know when they are ready when they start to float. Assuming they weren’t floating right when you dropped them in. In that case, there is still some extra air trapped in there, and just let them cook for 2 minutes or when all of it’s little friends start to float, too.

There is so much flavor packed in these butternut squash ravioli, I didn’t want to overpower it with a bold sauce. Originally I had planned on just sauteing them in some browned butter with sage, but because I had some left over filling, I ended up mixing it with some cream and reducing it over the stove to make a yummy cream sauce. And it was yummy!

Each ravioli is packed with lots of flavor. Creamy, rich, and delicious. The butternut squash and roasted garlic are an amazing combination. Adding a little bit of extra sage just puts it over the top.

This ravioli has inspired me to make my own pasta more often. While it is definitely a process, requiring some serious time commitment and planning, the proof (as they say) is in the pudding. I would definitely not be able to pick up anything this good at the store. Or I would be spending a pretty penny at a fancy Italian restaurant.

No thanks. I’ll just make it myself.

PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:94]

Light and Healthy Chicken Alfredo

April 25, 2014

I can honestly tell you I have no idea when the last time I ate fetuccini alfredo. My husband orders it fairly often when we go out to eat, but I never make it, because it is typically so unhealthy. All that cream and fat. No thanks!

This Alfredo sauce is made with pureed cauliflower, sauteed garlic and onions, Greek yogurt, a bit of non-fat milk, salt, pepper, and parsley. Other than the oil I used to sautee the garlic and onions, there is no fat in this sauce at all.

To make it extra light and healthy, I served my sauce over spaghetti squash (full disclosure, I made whole wheat pasta for my husband). I substitute spaghetti squash in almost all my pasta dishes. I find that it just as easy to make as pasta, and takes less time. First I cut the squash in half, length-wise, then place the squash cut-side down into a shallow microwavable dish with just a bit of water. I cover the dish in plastic wrap and microwave for 7-8 minutes. After it’s done microwaving, I let it sit and steam for an extra 1-2 minutes then it easily forms little “spaghetti noodles” when pulled at with a fork.

If you are a vegetarian, the chicken is totally optional. I this dish is hearty even without the added meat. Because I have to feed a 6’6″ man, I need to add in some extra protein or else he will still be hungry (and whiny).

Despite being “light” and healthy, this meal didn’t feel light. I was pleasantly full and felt completely satisfied. And because the sauce and the pasta are so healthy, I didn’t feel guilty about piling my plate high. And believe me, I did.

[yumprint-recipe id=’41’]

Quinoa Pasta

April 2, 2014

I think it is fair to say that most women (or anyone watching their weight) have a love-hate relationship with pasta. It’s easy and comforting. But the carbs. Oh the carbs. I, personally, try to limit my pasta intake to once or twice a month. My husband, on the other hand, could eat it every. single. day. To compromise with him, I try different tricks to substitute or limit the pasta. My new favorite might just be this quinoa pasta I whipped up.

With the right tools, homemade pasta is actually really easy. Really, all pasta is is flour, eggs, and a little seasoning rolled thin and cut into strips (or some other fun shape). For this recipe, I replaced part of the flour with “quinoa flour”, which is dry quinoa processed into a fine “flour”.

The quinoa flour is much coarser than normal flour, so you may not be able to make fine angel hair pasta. But it works perfectly well with any pasta roller attachment for making fettuccine or pappardelle noodles.

Because of the graininess of the dough, I only rolled my noodles out to about a 3mm thickness on my pasta roller attachment for the KitchenAid. Then I cut them by hand with a pizza cutter to make thick papparadelle noddles.

I would love to give you a play-by-play of how to make pasta with a pasta roller, but the hard work has already been done by the fine folks at the Kitchn. And I probably couldn’t do it better myself.

Once you have the noodles, you cook them just as you would any other pasta noodle. But because they are fresh and not dried, they cook much faster. Almost too fast if you are not careful and take your eye off of the pot.

With my quinoa pasta, I just tossed the noddles with some store bought pasta sauce and some sauteed veggies for a quick and light meal. But I plan on making this recipe again and using the noddles for lasagna.