The Ravioli Experiment

I recently mentioned the delicious butternut squash ravioli I had at Travinia, and the coincidental Giada episode I saw in which she made a similar recipe.  Yesterday, I attempted it myself.  Things started out great.  I was WAY ahead of the game.  I made the filling in the morning, and in spite of my tiny food processor, I ended up with a nice creamy delicious filling.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I only had one shallot, so I only used one shallot.  I didn't really measure the other ingredients, but I think I stayed pretty close to the amounts in the recipe.

Then, my mom and dad took Daphne to the playground, and I thought it would be a perfect time to start wrapping the filling.  I couldn't find the wonton wrappers at Wegman's, so I got some fresh lasagne sheets, which I thought would be better anyway.  WRONG!  The were too heavy, so they smooshed out the filling.  And they didn't stick together.  Good thing I discovered this early in the day!  I walked to Safeway to get wonton wrappers.  They were out of wonton wrappers at Safeway.  Apparently, there were some "supplier issues."  I was assured by the cashier that he would get to the bottom of this, and there would be wonton wrappers back on the Safeway shelves soon.  Great!  But that wasn't really gonna help me.  So, I drove to Giant.  Aha!  Wonton wrappers!  I guess Giant doesn't have the same supplier issues as Safeway.  So I returned home with my wrappers, ready to fill them with delicious butternut squash goodness.

In the meantime, Kev, who had been getting a play-by-play of my difficulties via email, wrote and provided instructions for DIY pasta.  When I told him I am not good at dough, he offered to make it when he got home.  Kev is awesome.  But I really wanted to do it myself.  So in the afternoon, I attempted my first ever pasta dough, following the stand mixer directions.  FAIL!  I ended up with big oily brain-looking lump.  So, after watching some youtube videos, I tried again, and this time did it by hand.  SUCCESS!  I rolled out the dough (which was hard!) and a little while later had some (very rustic looking) raviolis, ready to be boiled and consumed.  Kev helped me with some rolling toward the end, after I sustained a minor rolling pin forearm injury.  I made the brown butter and sage sauce, and we ended up with the picture above.  Yum.  Well, mostly.  The filling and sauce were great, but clearly my pasta-making skills can use some work.  The pasta was too thick, and very heavy.  But it still tasted good, and I still ate too much.  And there are leftovers for tomorrow.  Tonight, we will be having the very easy-to-prepare no-fail sandwich night. 

This afternoon, I took the leftover filling - there was a LOT! - and the wonton wrappers from Giant, and made these tortellinis, which are in the freezer to use as back-up food.  Kev said he's never had much luck with wonton wrappers, so we'll see what happens when I cook them.  Certainly a lot easier than making the fresh pasta, but not as satisfying.

Completely unrealted:  I just finished reading this book on my Kindle.  This is not the kind of book I typically choose to read, but it was absolutely captivating.  I couldn't put it down.  Briefy, it is the true story of Louis Zamperini, who was an Olympic track runner and WWII POW camp survivor.  Such an amazing story.  You might like it.  I loved it.  And I learned a lot that I didn't know about WWII in the Pacific.  This book is gonna stick with me for a while.

Our weekend was busy as usual.  I went with my brother to dinner in DC.  Daphne spent the night with G-ma and G-pa.  We took a little family day-trip to Frederick, MD.  There are pictures on flickr.  The time sprang forward, and it is affecting me much more than it is Daphne.  She's fine.  I'm exhausted.  I want to smash my alarm clock every morning.  But, I'll get used to it, and it's nice to be able to take after-dinner strolls before dark.  I hope things are good wherever you are.  I'm off to watch pirate cartoons with the Peanut now.    Don't forget your green tomorrow!