Ode to Butternut {Part Two}

Happy October!  Be excited, be very excited.  I introduced my love of Butternut squash with a killer dish but the second part of this tribute goes above and beyond the call of tasty dishes and is one of my all-time FAVORITES!  (And the best part is that you can use your leftovers from {Ode to Butternut--Part One})

This dish also showcases one of my other favorite ingredients: {The Shallot}  The shallot is like a garlic-onion superhero.  It has a strong and buttery flavor and shallots are "besties" with great fall foods like our friend the Butternut.  I just love 'em.

This dish has one of my favorite herbs--{Sage} and we'll talk about this more later, but sage is AWESOME!

In my exploration for great raviolis I came across this gem of a recipe from Food Network's fabulous chef, Emeril Lagasse (original recipe found here).

For my pasta dough I use a great recipe found at fromargentinawithlove.com.  Rebecca Caro has many great recipes from Argentine cuisine and some wonderful tutorials.

On we go:  The dough--

Dough Recipe
3 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp salt
10 Tbsp water

Create a flour well wide and deep enough for about 1 1/2 cups of fluid.  Sprinkle salt in it and crack two eggs into it.  Add oil and begin to blend together in well with a fork.  Slowly add 10 Tbsp of water while mixing and adding flour from the walls of the well.  When all the water is added put that fork down and get messy.  Work dough and knead (adding extra flour if needed) for around 10 minutes until elastic and smooth.  Wrap in Seran wrap and let it rest for an hour (ish)  When you have filling ready, divide in two and roll out as thin as you can get it.

I use a dough press for these raviolis, as shown below.  The back serves as a "cookie cutter" of sorts, then you flip it over lay your dough on it, add filling and wet one side before folding it over and pressing.  Its quick, slick and they look beautiful when your done.  Make sure to use flour through out the rolling, filling process.

Butternut Squash Ravioli Filling

Saute for 1 minute:

2 Tbsp butter

6 Tbsp minced shallots

Add 2 cup squash puree (***use your leftovers from Part One)
stir 2 or 3 minutes till dried a little

Add salt and pepper to taste and add 4-6 Tbsp cream

Stir 2 or 3 minutes and remove from heat

Add 6 Tbsp Parmesan and pinch of nutmeg

Add large scoop of Ricotta Cheese (around 3/4 to 1 cup)

Make into ravioli pasta and boil in salt water 2 or 3 minutes

Sauce:

8 Tbsp butter

Add 12 leaves sage

Cook butter in saucepan on stove over medium high heat until butter starts to brown.   Add sage leaves and serve over raviolis.  Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Raviolis Caseros (Homemade) !!!

So I've been missing Argentina a lot lately...seems like whenever I get thinking about it I start making lots of Argentine meals in our home.  Lately its been Raviolis Caseros and I am so in love!!!  The recipe for the Raviolis came from one of my new favorite websites: fromargentinawithlove.  This woman is amazing, I love her recipes (and she just gave birth to a gorgeous little girl, theres a picture on her website).  Anyway, her recipe for the dough and for the filling are amazing.  In the pictures below I used a different filling recipe--Butternut Squash Raviolis in Buttered Sage Sauce (from Food Network's Emeril Lagasse)--really yummy too if you want a change from the standard cheese filling.  Here are the recipes:

Recipe with full instruction for Raviolis Caseros

Butternut Squash Raviolis with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

For Sauce on Top:

There is a great recipe on FromArgentinaWithLove included at the bottom of the Ravioli Recipe

(I use that recipe on pizzas and gnocchis), but I have my own creation from my time in Argentina that I like on the raviolis:

Moe's Marinara

1 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp garlic

(saute til starting to brown)

Add:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

A bunch of basil

A bunch of Italian Seasoning

Salt to taste (1 tsp ish)

Sugar to taste (3 soupspoons ish)

Lemon Juice (1/8 cup ish)

1-2 Sweet Italian Sausage (I cook up and freeze so I can just throw it in)

Canned Mushrooms (opt)

Olives (opt)

Just a note about making your own raviolis.  It appears hard and time consuming...the truth is: it will be unless you plan it right.  If you make your sauce, you filling, your dough, the raviolis and try and do it all right before dinner, it will NOT work.  Plan ahead, make them in bulk so that the work you put in rewards you more than once.  I make things like this when my husband has to study late.  I hate being alone at night so its relaxing to me to turn on a movie and make a big batch of pasta to freeze.  Also, start early so you can let the dough rest and let the pasta dry for awhile after its all been assembled.  Making the dough on the counter is relaxing and fun (and my husband was so impressed by it :), the dough is soft and relaxing to work with, the end result is heaven on a platter, so if you enjoy that sort of thing you will love it, and the ravioli rolling pin makes all the difference, its so fast!

Gnocchi Sauce (and an improvement on the Gnocchi itself)

I found the COOLEST website: http://fromargentinawithlove.typepad.com/from_argentina_with_love/
If you want a recipe from Argentina she has it and she is super nice!  I was so excited when I found her website I almost cried.  She married a guy from the Mendoza area (where I served my mission) and they travel there every year to visit his family.  If you want a recipe that is authentic from the Mendoza area she will most likely have it.

She had this sauce posted on her site for gnocchi sauce and it was so good:

Gnocchi Sauce

6 tsp minced garlic (6 garlic cloves)

5 Tbsp olive oil

Put oil in skillet on medium heat.  Saute garlic till golden brown.  (don’t burn)

Add 2 regular cans diced tomatoes

Juice from half a lemon

¾ tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

A big handful of dried basil

Raise to medium high, cover and simmer for 30 minutesa

I've also perfected my gnocchi's by changing an Olive Garden recipe that I have used in the past, so this is my adapted version that makes them perfect--my hubby was so impressed!

Gnocchis

4 packed cups of mashed potatoes

1 ½ cup flour

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

Mix in mixer to form soft dough

Use extra flour when rolling out

Moe's Cream Sauce with Linguine...at last!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, I originally got this recipe--called "Linguine with Garlic Sauce" from a Taste of Home cookbook that my hubby got me for my birthday.  The recipe as given was okay but we have improved it a little and now it is one of our favorite meals:

1/2 lb bacon (I've used precooked bacon)
5 cups fresh baby spinach (I've used frozen but it turns your sauce green :)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 cup milk or half n half or cream (I use whatever I have)
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp  pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup parmesan, and if you like some to sprinkle on top
(we also have used swiss cheese...it was really good)

Cook bacon til you can crumble it (pretty crispy), drain on paper plate and retain 1-3 Tbsp bacon grease.  Saute in grease your spinach, onion and garlic.  Add milk, cream cheese, butter, salt, nutmeg, pepper and parmesan cheese.  Stir until smooth.  Heat to thicken.  Stir in toasted pine nuts and bacon at very end.  Serve on top of Linguine.  Makes 4-6 servings.  If I want it to stretch I just add more cream.  Yum

Spicy Homemade Mac and Cheese

I made this one up, but it turned out so good! So hopefully I can remember what I did.

2-3 whole roasted red peppers.

1 box cream cheese

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp parsley

Blend all above ingredients

Boil some of your favorite pasta(however much you need. I boiled half a box of penne)

3-4 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup half and half

3 TBS butter

1/4-1/2 cup flour

Melt butter and then whisk in flour until you make a good roux. Add half and half and mix until thick gravy texture. Add you cheese and fold in with a wood spoon (stir in using figure 8's. it helps blend in the cheese better.) Then add your blended mixture. I added my pasta and then toped with a bread crumb/butter mixture and some more cheese.

You might have some extra cheese mixture. I put it in a zip lock freezer bag and freezed it and just un-thawed it when I wanted to make this meal again. It was just as good as it was the first time!