Three Cheese Ravioli with Shrimp in Butter Garlic Sauce

We usually don't eat bread with meals.  The main exception is when we do pasta.  I know, all the health nuts will freak out over the dual sources of those evil carbohydrates.  Then again, I doubt any of those types will be reading about my food.  All that said, we had a loaf of fresh bread left over after eating the Fettuccine last week.  It sat there in the fridge demanding to be used well.

I finally succumbed to the need to finish off the bread and decided on another pasta dish.  Then the question became, what pasta dish?  My good wife had asked for my next batch of ravioli be cheese ravioli so this was the chance.

Deciding on cheese ravioli was the easy part.  Then came other questions that needed answers.  What cheeses should I use?  What kind of sauce, if any, should I use?  What should accompany the ravioli?  See, one thing leads to another.  In the end, I used what I had on hand with the exception of Ricotta cheese.  The cheese mixture was Ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese.  The sauce was a butter garlic sauce.  Sauteed shrimp would be the accompaniment along with the bread.

Making ravioli is a time consuming process but it is well worth it.  The main reason is that you know what is in it and can tailor the stuffing mixture to suit your tastes.  I have the little ravioli form, there is a link in the Tools and Gadgets post, that helps make them more uniform but it is not a requirement for home made ravioli.  If you don't have a ravioli form, just lay out the bottom sheet of pasta dough, add small mounds of stuffing at least an inch apart, lay the top sheet of pasta dough down, and press into the individual ravioli.

Ready for the top layer of dough

Three Cheese Ravioli

Pasta dough
1 cup Ricotta cheese
3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 T minced Basil
1 tsp mince Thyme
salt
pepper

The pasta dough is my standard recipe.  Combine 2 cups flour, 3 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp olive oil.  Once they come together knead the dough until it is smooth.  Wrap in plastic and let sit for 20 minutes before working.  While the dough is resting, add the cheeses to a bowl and mix well.  Stir in the Basil and Thyme.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If using a pasta press, roll out the sheets to desired thickness, I go to 5.  Use a ravioli form or the countertop method to make your ravioli.  To cook the ravioli, put it in well salted boiling water.  When it floats it is done.

Using the ravioli form I have this recipe will make about 36 ravioli.  I had enough filling for another couple of ravioli so I just snacked on it while doing everything else.

Fresh ravioli ready to cook

Start the shrimp cooking then put the ravioli into the boiling water. When the ravioli is done either drain in a colander or use a slotted spoon to get them out of the water and into a bowl. Toss with a little olive oil to keep them from sticking.  Then finish according to the Shrimp in Butter Garlic Sauce recipe.

Shrimp in Butter Garlic Sauce

1 - 1.5 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 stick butter
6 - 8 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

Leaving the tail on the shrimp is personal preference but I remove the tails prior to cooking.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning over the shrimp to suit your taste.  Melt all but 2 T of the butter in a skillet.  Add the shrimp and sautee until done.  Remove from the skillet leaving the melted butter.  Add the remaining butter and let it melt.  Add the white wine, stir, then burn off the alcohol.  Add the minced garlic and sautee for a minute or two, don't let it brown.  Add the ravioli to the skillet and toss to coat.  Return the shrimp to the skillet and stir to mix in with the ravioli.  Serve and enjoy.

A plate full of goodness

If you don't want to burn off the alcohol in the wine you can just let it evaporate naturally.  It will just take an extra minute or two.  I like to play with fire so I burn it off. 

This meal comes together quickly once the ravioli is made.  If you use ready made ravioli then this would be a super quick evening meal.  Whether you make your own ravioli or use fresh ravioli from the store I hope you'll give this recipe a try.  I think you'll like it.

Uncle T

Pepperoni and Mushroom Pizza Fettuccine

Yeah, I know, the title is a bit strange.  If you've read much of what I've written you've probably figured out that I do strange fairly well at times.  This is one of them.  On the upside, it is quite tasty.

Previously I detailed making pepperoni and slicing and packaging it.  When using a slicer there are always mis-cuts, trailing pieces, and ends to deal with.  These ends and pieces were diced and packaged for use when I thought of something to do with them.  I was initially thinking of just using them on a pizza but then a craving for some pasta came over me.  I had the diced pepperoni, mushrooms, and some left over marinara sauce in the refrigerator so the pizza fettuccine was born.

Pepperoni and Mushroom Pizza Fettuccine

6 oz diced pepperoni
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
marinara sauce
Fettuccine

Put the diced pepperoni in a skillet and fry until slightly crispy.  Remove from skillet.  Add a bit of olive oil to the pepperoni grease and cook the mushrooms to desired doneness.  Remove from skillet.  When the fettuccine is done, take it out of the water and put into the skillet.  Once all the fettuccine is in the skillet add the pepperoni and mushrooms.  Toss with tongs to mix.  Add the marinara sauce and mix.  Serve and enjoy.

As you see, there is no measurement for the marinara sauce.  That is so you use as much as you wish.  We like just a bit of sauce on our pizza and did this the same way so it would be another layer of flavor rather than being the main flavor.  This is not a terribly inventive recipe to my mind but I've not found anything quite like it doing a quick search online.  Everything I've come across uses half and half with cheese to make a creamy cheese sauce.  To me that defeats the purpose of letting each flavor shine. 

The boy is living with us for a bit until he closes on his new house and had one complaint about this dish.  His complaint was how was he supposed to go back to box pasta after eating fresh.  I offered to give him the pasta dough recipe I use.

Naturally, eating pasta meant I had to make some bread to go along with it.  I used the baguette recipe from Artisanbreadwithstev, found here, https://youtu.be/QBX9S5klgN8.  I wanted a larger loaf so I just divided the dough in half rather than into thirds.  The recipes from this guy that I've made have all turned out well and have been tasty.  Since it only takes about  2 1/2 hours from start to finish you should try it.  It'll be fresh, hot, and won't have the unpronounceable ingredients found in bread from the store.

A plate full of goodness

OK, this post is not as long or involved as some but brevity at times has a quality all its own.  The take away from this one is to do something different with your ingredients.  You don't always have to fix things in the usual manner.  Obviously I'm not concerned with pasta purists or traditionalists.  Have fun in the kitchen and make good food.  Give it a shot.

Uncle T

Pepperoni Production

One of the down falls of making your own cured meats and sausages is those made commercially pale in comparison.  One of the good things about making your own is that once you have the techniques and principles down you can experiment.  This can lead to some tasty developments.

Pepperoni made at home is definitely more flavorful than any you can get in the store with the exception of good dry cured fermented pepperoni from a specialty store.  Since I don't currently have a place to put a curing/fermentation chamber my pepperoni is cured and cooked.  I use as my base recipe the one found here, http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Pepperoni-cooked.pdf.  If you want to try your hand at any type of sausage, Len Poli has some excellent formulations on his site.  One of the good things about his formulations is that he lists ingredients by US measurements, metric measurements, and as a percentage.  Having the percentage is what lets you make as much or as little as you like in a batch.

I use the percentage and metric measurements for my sausage making.  A good scale is very helpful and almost a necessity using this method.  You can find my scale on my Tools and Gadgets post on 2 July 15.

The whole process started off with a 9 lb 2 oz boneless pork butt.  The butt was cut into chunks and strips of a size to fit in the tube of my grinder.  Once they were cut and in the freezer the calculator came out to figure out how much of each ingredient I'd need.  All the dry ingredients were weighed out and mixed in a bowl.  The wet ingredients stayed in their measuring cups.  The formulation calls for non-fat milk but I used the closest we had on hand which was 2% milk.  Use what you have on hand.

One thing to help with the grinding is to make sure your grinder is super cold and the meat is cold almost to the point of being at a hard chill.  Doing this will give you a cleaner grind of your meat and the temperature will stay low enough that bacteria growth will be inhibited.  I put my grinder head in the freezer before I even start cutting up the meat.

The meat gets ground into a meat chub that can hold up to 25 lbs of meat.  I then spread it evenly in the chub and then sprinkle on the dry ingredients then pour the wet ingredients over it.  Now the hardest part starts, the mixing.  The easiest way is to use your hands and mix and squeeze until everything is well mixed.  The mixture should be sticky.  Fry up a little sample to check the spice level.  A fancy name for this sample is quenelle.

Thoroughly mixed and ready to chill

Put the pepperoni mixture in the refrigerator while the casings are being prepared.  I get my casings from Butcher and Packer, http://www.butcher-packer.com/.  Take out a length of casing, about a foot per pound plus a bit extra and rinse off the salt that it is packed in.  Let the casing soak in warm water for 30 - 45 minutes.  Run water through the casing to ensure all the salt is gone.  The casing is now ready to thread onto the stuffing tube.

Starting to take shape

I have a 5 lb vertical stuffer that I got from Northern Tool.  I don't know if they still carry them or not.  Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas both carry them and they can also be ordered directly from Weston and LEM.  The casings can be stuffed fairly tight since you will only be making a few long links. 

Freshly linked and ready to hang

Once the casing is filled, twist into 12 - 18 inch links.  I separate them into pairs for easy hanging in the smoker.  Hang the pepperoni at room temperature with a fan blowing across them for about an hour to dry the casing.  After the pepperoni has hung for an hour, put it in the smoker and cook slowly at 180 - 190 degrees until an internal temperature of 150 F is reached.  They don't need any smoke except the minimal amount that comes from the charcoal.  The pepperoni can be done in the oven, just make sure they aren't touching.  Dip the pepperoni in boiling water for 20 seconds to shrink the casing.  Refrigerate for several hours before using.

After the cook and dip in boiling water

I run all the pepperoni through the slicer in one session and package it.  It gets packaged in 4 ounce batches as that will be enough to cover a pizza fairly well.  The ends and any bad slices get chopped and packaged for use as well.  This latest batch of ends and pieces got used in a pasta dish that turned out quite nicely.

Some sliced for pizza, look at that texture

A mass of sliced pepperoni ready to be packaged

I hope you try your hand at this pepperoni or some other sausage, you'll be amazed at the results.  For bulk type  sausages all you need is a grinder and hand cranked grinders can still be purchased rather inexpensively at thrift stores and antique shops.  I still have one myself.  So, get some meat and start experimenting with sausage.

Uncle T

Cabbage Rolls with Fresh Fettucine

This came about because I was looking for a good dish to test the delay and slow cooker function on the electric pressure cooker we got.  I will say that they worked great.

Many countries and cultures seem to have some form of cabbage rolls or stuffed cabbage in their cuisine.  Whether it is called a cabbage roll or stuffed cabbage seems to vary with no  rhyme or reason.  Whatever the reason, they are tasty, fairly simple to make, and offer a fine vehicle for experimentation.

Most cabbage roll recipes seem to be cabbage leaves stuffed with beef, rice, and onion and cooked in some form of tomato sauce.  I've also seen recipes using pork or a mixture of beef and pork.  Most German recipes I've seen are only pork and beef and the cabbage roll is cooked in a brown gravy.  Polish recipes have tended to be beef and pork with tomato sauce.  Hungarian recipes have had pork and veal with tomato sauce.  Italian recipes have been a mixture of sweet Italian sausage and beef with tomato sauce.  You get the picture, there is both variety and consistency.  I stuffed mine with my hot Italian sausage, rice, onion, sweet peppers, and mushrooms.

Ready to roll

 The hardest part of the process was peeling the cabbage leaves without tearing them.  Since I was just doing a few I didn't need to do the whole head of cabbage.  I did come across something last night where they prepped the whole head and bundled the leaves in batch size lots and froze them.  I'll have to give that a try.

Freshly stuffed and rolled cabbage leaf

I figured that since I was going to cover the cabbage rolls with my marina sauce it was only fitting to serve some fresh pasta with them.  My good wife said fettucine when offered the choices so that is what we had.  I think it was an excellent choice.

Cabbage Rolls

1 lb hot Italian sausage
3/4 cup rice, I used brown Minute rice
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
3 small sweet peppers, seeded and chopped
Cabbage leaves

Combine all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl.  Blanch the cabbage leaves to make them pliable.  Spoon a bit of the meat mixture onto the leaf near one end.  Fold that end over the meat, fold the two sides over that, and finish rolling.  Put the cabbage rolls in the slow cooker and cover with your favorite tomato sauce.  Cook for 4 hours.

Cabbage stuffed and waiting on the sauce

My marina sauce recipe is quick and easy.  Puree 2 large cans of tomatoes, add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to your taste.  Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.  For us, I use about 3 Tbs of Italian seasoning, and 1 Tbs of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  I say about because I use my palm to measure but I am fairly accurate doing it that way.  The salt and pepper get started with two large pinches each and then smaller pinches to adjust after tasting.  After all, some canned tomatoes have more salt than others.

Sauced up and ready to cook

Pasta Dough

2 cups flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp olive oil

Sift together the flour and salt.  Make a whole in  the middle and add the eggs and olive oil.  Start in the middle and work your way out to combine.  Turn the dough out on your cutting board and knead to smooth it out.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.  Divide the ball into 4 pieces and start rolling your pasta to desired thickness.  Cook in well salted water.

Rolling and cutting the pasta is the most time consuming portion of this meal.  The taste and texture of fresh pasta makes it well worth it though.  Even though "experts" say don't do it, I tossed the fettucine with olive oil after it was drained.  This adds a bit of flavor and keeps it from sticking while I was plating up supper.

Supper is ready

Give these cabbage rolls a try or come up with your own stuffing for them.  Have fun and enjoy.

Uncle T