Sunday, January 11, 2009

Beet Ravioli Step THREE






Next, you'll want to stir one egg together. You'll use this as a binding for your ravioli shells.
I have gone through much angst and drama in the past, laboriously creating my own pasta for these critters. These days, given my schedule and time factor, I use the wonton wrappers from the grocery store. This recipe will make enough beet mix for one entire package of wonton wrappers, or for one 2 cup size of pasta dough from scratch.

I set up about eight to ten wrappers, then brush all edges with the egg mixture using my handy pastry brush. I like the silicone brushes for this process since they don't leave behind the really nasty bits of brush that natural bristles will. I find myself picking sable hairs out of my paintings, which is pain in the neck enough for me, I don't want to pick them out of my cooking as well.

Onward....

Use one level teaspoon of filling for the ravioli. If you put too much in, it'll squoosh out the sides and won't hold when you boil them.

Carefully fold over the ravioli and pinch the edges. Some folks can do this on the sink, I'm a clutz and must do this by picking each one up, and pressing all edges pretty hard. If their is any leaking of filling, I find it easier to fix if I'm holding the individual ravioli.

When finished with all the ravioli, I toss them onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet with a bit of flour. I can stack three layers of ravioli, so long as I place wax paper and flour between each layer.

At this point, the whole works goes into the freezer, less the amount I want to keep out for dinner.

To cook, boil salted (teaspoon of sea salt) water to a low boil. Too rapid and it'll break up the puppies.

Drop them in gently, one at a time. If they are fresh, you'll only have to cook them about 40 seconds. If they are frozen, a little over a minute will do. They are done when the pop to the surface.