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Bruschetta with Grilled Zucchini and Ravioli with Asparagus

March 28, 2016 by Renee

Ravioli with Asparagus

Ravioli with Asparagus-2817

We’ve made pasta by hand three nights in the past week. Having made David Lebovitz’s Herbed pasta as a side to the delicious Belgian Stew with beer we had last weekend, and remembering how easy and fun making pasta by hand is, we’ve become a little obsessed this week. There was a simple fettuccine with garlic and brown butter and then there was spaghetti Bolognese and last night, moving up the scale of effort, there was ravioli.

Don’t be intimated by making pasta or even ravioli at home. The process is fairly quick and once you get the hang of it, you can make your dough in the time it takes to boil the water. I picked up this inexpensive ravioli maker years ago – it is so simple to use and makes perfect ravioli!

My girls had a good time making the sheets of pasta, cranking the machine and making sure the dough didn’t dry out too much. There were many giggles while kneading the dough and working together to feed it into the pasta machine. They quickly learned that the end had to be relatively thin to get the dough started in the machine, and that if it was too thick, it was really hard to crank.

They created beautiful long sheets of pasta to use with the ravioli mold. Then they carefully spooned the filling into each indentation and covered it with another sheet of pasta before rolling out perfect little pouches. They were a good team and made about 4 dozen raviolis.

While the kitchen table became the assembly line for the pasta making efforts, the counter became a bruschetta bar. Because, you know, the workers get hungry making all those sheets of pasta, filling them and rolling them into perfect little pouches.

In addition to tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, one of my favorite variations is to grill thinly sliced zucchini, give it a good dousing of olive oil with mint and lemon juice, and serve it with fresh Burrata on toasted bread.

Bruschetta-2745

Bruschetta with Zucchini and Mint

Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh mint, cleaned and chipped fine
Juice of 1 medium lemon
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 zucchinis, sliced thinly length ways, (by hand or using a mandolin)
1 Italian Bread cut into 1-1 1/2″ slices
1 Burrata, buffalo mozzarella, about 8 oz.
Method
• In a small bowl add the oil, mint, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Brush one side of the zucchini slices with olive oil and place on the grill oil side down and cook until dark grill marks appear, about 5 minutes. Brush the top side with oil and flip the piece over on the grill and continue to cook until dark grill marks appear. Transfer each piece as it finishes to a large plate.
• Once all the zucchini slices have been grilled, pour the oil, mint and lemon vinaigrette over them.
• Brush the bread slices with oil and grill on both sides until crispy.
• To serve, add a spoonful of Burrata to the grilled bread, add a few slices of zucchini, and drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired.

Bruschetta-2772


Ravioli with Asparagus

Ingredients for the Ravioli Filling

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped fine and toasted
1 cup Ricotta cheese, firm, drained
1 egg yolk
3 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Pasta Dough

2 cups “00” flour
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs water (or more if needed)

Ingredients for the Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus, sliced diagonally in thirds
1 garlic clove, sliced thin
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
6 tbs butter, divided into thirds (2 tbs each)

Method

1. Make the filling.

• In a heavy duty frying pan, over medium high heat, add the walnuts to the dry pan and cook until golden and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn them.
• In a medium bowl, combine the toasted walnuts, ricotta, egg and parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Make the pasta dough.

• Combine the flour, eggs, yolks and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and begin mixing the dough with a fork. Once it is well combined, begin working the dough with your hands (you may need to add a little more water if the dough is too dry or add more flour if it is too wet- a teaspoon at a time for each) and form into four large balls.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten one of the balls into an oblong shaped piece and starting at the widest setting on a pasta machine (0) run the dough through twice on each setting until you reach (7) or about 5mm thick.
• Lay the sheet over the ravioli mold and using the top mold press to make the indentations for the filling. Slice off any extra dough and if long enough, save it for the top, or refold into a ball to keep reusing.
• Add the filling to the indentations, 1/2-3/4 tsp of filling for each ravioli.
• Add another sheet of dough on top of the filled ravioli and using a rolling pin, roll over the mold to cut the pieces.
• Set the filled ravioli aside to dry while you repeat the process until you are out of filling/dough.

3. Make the asparagus.

• In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add 2 tbs of butter and melt gently until foaming, 1-2 minutes. Add asparagus and garlic and toss until coated, cook 2-4 minutes until brightly green and still crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add 2 tbs butter and melt gently until foaming, 1-2 minutes. Add the sage leaves and fry until crisp, 1-2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Keep the pan handy, there is no need to wash this yet as you will mix the pasta and asparagus here.

Put it all together

In a large pot, boil salted water. Add the ravioli and cook until al dente, 3-5 minutes. Remove the ravioli with a slotted spoon and place onto a plate. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water to add to the pasta sauce.

Add the remaining 2 tbs butter to the sauté pan and melt gently. Transfer the asparagus, pasta and cooking water to the pan. Toss well to combine over medium heat.

Serve hot topped with the fried sage and add some freshly grated parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ravioli with Asparagus

Hope you will try it and will let me know how it turns out! Buon Appetito!


Filed Under: Eat, Appetizers, Bread, Pasta Tagged With: Asparagus, Bruschetta, Burrata, Pasta, Ravioli

Asparagus Tart and Crispy Fried Asparagus Recipes, Spring Has Sprung!

June 1, 2011 by Renee

AsparagusOne of my favorite vegetables is asparagus and even though you can find them all year round, its Spring and Summer when I purchase them every week for us to enjoy. I prefer the nice plump ones to the thin ones because I feel that the fatter ones have the most delicious flavor. There are so many great recipes for asparagus that I could post about them for a week, but here’s a few ways we like to enjoy them.

First off, there is grilling with just a bit of salt and a squeeze of lemon over top. Simple, easy and perfect for the outdoor dinner.

The most classic way to cook them is to peel them, lop off the extra thick ends and blanch them briefly in boiling salted water. You can serve them immediately or you can refrigerate them and eat them cold with a tangy vinaigrette to dunk the spears in to.

Then of course there is roasting them. Drizzled with a bit of olive oil and salt, roast them on a sheet pan covered with foil in an oven that’s been preheated to 425 degrees for about a half hour or until tender. Roasting the asparagus brings out the sweet essence of the vegetable and is so simple yet so incredibly delightful, you’ll end up eating all of them before they arrive at the table if you are not careful.

Two other ways to enjoy this very versatile vegetable is to encase them in cheese and puff pastry or to batter and fry them. We have enjoyed both ways!

 

Asparagus Tart

Ingredients

Flour, for work surface

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

1 pound asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed

1 egg yolk + 1 tbs water, beaten to blend

1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 tsp. nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle being careful to not cut all the way through the dough. Using a fork, pierce the dough inside the markings (called Docking) to prevent air bubbles from forming and puffing up the center too much. Bake until a pale golden, about 10 minutes. Remove pastry shell from oven, and set aside.

In the meantime, mix the ricotta cheese with the Gruyere, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the cheese mixture over the center of the pastry and arrange the asparagus spears in a single layer over the top alternating the ends and the tips.

Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

 

Crispy Fried Asparagus With Ancho Chili Mayo

 

Ancho Chili Mayo

Ingredients

½ cup mayonnaise *homemade is preferable, but you can use jarred too and not worry about the raw eggs

½ lemon, zested and juiced

1 tsp. Ancho chili powder

½ tsp. turmeric

½ tsp. cumin

½ tsp. hot sauce (Tabasco works nicely)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients and mix until the spices are blended through.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you are making the asparagus to let the flavors meld together. Be sure to taste to see if it spicy or tangy enough for your tastes and adjust seasonings as necessary.

 

Crispy Fried Asparagus Spears

Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine’s  April/May 2011 Asparagus Fries with Smoked Paprika Aioli.

Ingredients

1 lb. asparagus, rough ends trimmed

½ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

2 egg whites

2 tbs. cold water

½ lemon, zested and juiced

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

¼ cup plain bread crumbs

3 cups vegetable oil

Method

Cut the asparagus to about 4-5 inches long. (You can save the stalks for another recipe!) If they are very thick you can split them lengthwise.

Create your breading station by laying out three large shallow dishes with rims.

In the first shallow dish, mix the flour, salt and pepper.

In a second shallow dish, combine the egg whites, water, and lemon juice.

In a third shallow dish, mix the Panko bread crumbs, plain bread crumbs, and the lemon zest.

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over a medium flame. If you have a candy thermometer or deep fryer heat the oil to 375 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can tell if the oil is ready by dropping in a few of the Panko crumbs and if they bubble and rise to the top then the oil is ready.

Divide the asparagus into 4 smaller bunches, first toss them into the flour mixture, shake off the extra, and then dip them into the egg whites, and then into the Panko/ bread crumbs.

Carefully place the asparagus into the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown.

Remove the asparagus from the oil with a slotted spoon or tongs, and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt.

Repeat the process for the remaining asparagus.

Serve with the Ancho Chili Mayo on the side.

 

Enjoy!

 

 



Filed Under: Eat, Featured Posts, Appetizers, Vegetables Tagged With: Ancho Chili, Asparagus, Blanched, Fried, Fried Asparagus, Gruyere, Panko, Recipe, Ricotta, Roasted, Roasted Asparagus, Tart

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