Mushroom Ravioli

I love mushroom ravioli and often, I'll grab a pack from the market when a craving hits. It's a yummy treat but store bought ravioli is usually too salty for me. So, I made my own and they were pretty delicious. And, you could certainly serve these at Thanksgiving; they're rustic and delicious and you can brag that you made them from scratch.

Ingredients [makes 5 to 6 dozen ravioli]
¾ lb pasta dough (½ of the recipe I normally use)
3 portobello mushrooms
6 cloves garlic
4 sprigs rosemary
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
olive oil
salt & pepper

Start by cleaning the portobello mushrooms. Lightly dust off the mushrooms using a damp paper towel to get rid of any dirt. Give the mushrooms a rough chop and place on a sheet pan along with the garlic. Drizzle with plenty of olive oil and sprinkle with stripped rosemary.

Toss the ingredients together to get the mushrooms and garlic coated in olive oil and then crack plenty of fresh black pepper over the top.

Roast in an oven at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned and cooked through.

Let the mushrooms cool briefly, just until they're cool enough to handle without burning your fingers.

Add the still-warm mushrooms and garlic to a food processor and pulse a few times until the mushrooms are chopped to a relatively fine texture. The pieces shouldn't be too large but it shouldn't be processed to a paste - you should aim for lentil-sized pieces.

Let the mushrooms cool and then squeeze out the excess moisture using a cheese cloth or by pressing against a fine mesh strainer.

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, parmesan, and egg.

Add in the mushroom mixture and a pinch of salt and stir. If the mixture seems too wet, pour the filling into a sieve and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes until any extra moisture drains out.

Roll out the pasta dough.

If you have a ravioli mold, use it. If not, you can do what I did. I used a fluted biscuit cutter (it's actually two-sided so I could've used the normal round side as well) to cut out my ravioli. You could also use a pizza cutter to make square ravioli.

First, use the cutter to gently mark the dough to make sure the ravioli are spaced out properly. Then, use a teaspoon to portion out the filling.

Use a bit of water around the edge of each ravioli. Top with a second piece of pasta dough and press down around the filling, making sure to press out any air bubbles.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out the ravioli.

Carefully push the ravioli out of the cutter.

Arrange the finished ravioli on a sheet of wax paper or a drying rack.

So cute, huh?

When you're ready to eat the ravioli, cook them in a pot of salted boiling water. When the ravioli start to float, they're done. Drain the pasta and set it aside.

In a frying pan, heat up a little bit of butter with some rosemary. Toss in the ravioli and toast on both sides until crisp and brown.

Serve the ravioli while they're still piping hot.

When you cut into the ravioli, it should crunch and sound nice and crispy. The filling is pretty subtle but definitely mushroom-y and rosemary-y. These would make a delicious appetizer or a great meal.

Enjoy.

Here's the recipe page: