I have been craving ravioli for days now. The thing is, ravioli is not one of those foods you can just whip up easily and have it be good. I am not talking the Chef Boyardee version of ravioli. That stuff is disgusting. In fact, it could be the reason why craving ravioli might make people look at you weirdly. Really, you are craving ravioli? Soggy pasta filled with a meat-like substance? Even the "fresh" varieties sold by Olivieri do not do justice to what I think of as ravioli.
Ravioli is one of the few meals I would pay good money for in a restaurant. When it is done correctly, it can be the best comfort food. There are so many different fillings you can put in ravioli. It is just awesome. So, when you have a craving for ravioli, there are only two ways to satisfy it. One, you go to a great Italian restaurant, or, two, you make your own.
Thank goodness for wonton wrappers. I have made my own pasta dough, but when there is a package of wonton wrappers waiting to be used, it is so much easier. My filling of choice today was goat's cheese with sun dried tomatoes. I also have a wonderful butternut squash filling with a sage and brown butter sauce from Food and Drink magazine, but I was not in the mood for squash.
When we lived in Manitoba, we used to go to a restaurant called Bombolini. It is on Broadway, underneath Amici. They used to make the best goat's cheese ravioli. Then, they took it off the menu and only served it occasionally as a special. I remember being fortunate enough to be there one of those "special" days. I loved that dish. I have been craving something similar to it ever since I started craving ravioli this week.
The goat's cheese filling was simple enough. I mixed some soft goat's cheese with a dollop of sour cream (I did not have mascarpone cheese). I added a teaspoon of pesto because I did not have fresh herbs, and a bit a grated parmesan. I chopped up some sun dried tomatoes and mixed those into the cheese. I put a scant teaspoon of the filling in the middle of each wrapper, and sealed them into triangles with a bit of water.
The hardest part about sealing the ravioli is getting the air out. There is always the chance the wrappers are going to open up while you are boiling them. You need to make sure they are fairly well sealed. I will probably serve the ravioli with tomato sauce and salad.
Also, today, I made a Pear Spice Loaf. The recipe is from
Boites à Lunch Santé, by Geneviève O'Gleaman. It is pretty simple. Mix a cup of whole wheat flour with 1/4 cup of ground fax seeds, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground clove and 1/4 tsp allspice. For the wet ingredients, beat together two eggs and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Mix in 1/2 cup of milk,1/2 cup skim milk powder and 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Add two ripe pears, chopped. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until all the dry ingredients are combined. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. My son ate two slices for breakfast, so I assume it is at least edible.
Later today, I will be making mini chocolate chip banana muffins for my daughter's lunches. This recipe is also from Boites à Lunch Santé. We have lots of ripe bananas which I totally forgot about until after I made the pear loaf.
It's funny because my daughter was at a sleepover last night and the mom made banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. My daughter said she could not eat dessert for breakfast, and the mom said it was not really dessert. Then, my daughter said she could not eat chocolate. We sometimes have waffles and pancakes with chocolate chips as a treat for breakfast, so I am not sure where these "rules" came from. Interesting the things your kids come up with when staying as a guest somewhere else.
A few hours later...
Cooked ravioli, and baked muffins.
The ravioli was really good. Yum!
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