RSS
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli
I think I figured out what I am giving (up) for nablopomo.
*deep breath*
Fast food.
I don’t know how you working women do it. If you work 40+ hours per week and cook dinner everyday, I applaud you. As for me, I’ve been pretty slack on the cooking department since I started working again. Personally I blame drive-thrus. When my husband calls me at 5pm and asked me if I cooked dinner or if he should pick up [insert fast food here], I know I should say “I’ll cook” but it’s almost an out of body experience when I hear myself say “Big Mac, large fries, diet coke and SUPERSIZE, please…”
So last night, since my hubs comes home late on Tuesdays and I have the whole apartment to myself, no distractions (except Twitter), I decided to put my big girl apron on, kick the Chinese takeout to the curb and pick something out of my must-cook queue.
Two hours later I was eating dinner. Three hours later, T came home and had some too. One hour later, there were no leftovers.
Nom nom nom…
Just to clarify.
My definition of fast food is any food that is prepared quickly and comes in a take out container. Those are the necessary conditions. So CPK seafood miso salad take out doesn’t count. Well… it doesn’t! It takes them a LONG time to give me my order.
What?
Ok fine. What’s your definition of fast food?
Recipe from Food Network, Giadia De Laurentiis
INGREDIENTS
For ravioli
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons for boiling water
6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup mascarpone
1/3 cup grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnishing
6 egg roll wrappers (6 1/2 by 6 1/2-inch squares) (I used wonton wrappers)
2 large eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water (egg wash)
For sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup mushroom (cremini, shiitake and/or button), finely chopped (I used button)
2 cups tomato sauce (I used canned spaghetti sauce)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
To make raviolis—
In a saute pan over medium heat add 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 6 minutes. Add spinach and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place mixture into a food processor. Pulse until you get a coarse texture. Remove from food processor and place in a large bowl. Stir in mascarpone and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
Line wrappers on a cutting board. Brush with egg wash. Using a tablespoon, arrange 4 dollops of the filling on each wrapper – 2 on the first row and 2 on the second – 1-inch apart. Place another wrapper directly on top, pressing around the filling and sealing the edges. Using a fluted ravioli cutter, cut out squares of ravioli. Each filled wrapper will yield 4 raviolis, giving you a total of 12 ravioli. Place ravioli onto a floured baking sheet and keep covered with a linen towel.
[NOTES: I used wonton wrappers, cut in 1/2 vertically, 1 tsp filling per half and folded over to make 2 raviolis per 1 wonton wrapper and sealed creating ridges with a fork.]
Boil some water in a large pot. Carefully add ravioli, about 3 to 4 at a time. (This will prevent them from crowding in the pot and sticking together.) Cook until ravioli floats to the top, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, carefully remove the ravioli and place on the plate. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue cooking remaining ravioli.
To make sauce—
In a saute pan, heat remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. When almost smoking, add chopped mushrooms. Cook until liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Carefully pour in tomato sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Top ravioli with mushroom tomato sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan.
ENJOY!
Husband rating: A
He was kinda iffy b/c there wasn’t any protein but he totally dug this recipe and ate multiple plates. He said it would be A+ if I could add some protein though.
Wifey rating: A/A+
This recipe takes a little time but Giada has never failed me and this recipe was worth the time. To be honest I was kinda tickled after seeing the final product with the fork tine ridges. hehe. Loved this recipe! Next time I’ll make double so I can freeze it for more than 1 meal.
Share
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe via Email
Follow Me on Twitter
Maria — March 4, 2009 @ 7:12 am
Good for you! I never eat fast food, I don’t like it and I don’t like to spend money eating out. We go out as a couple, but we save up for nice meals. We love cooking so I always pack our lunches the night before. I cook a lot on weekends too. I always make sure we have something to take!! The meal looks great, you are off to a good start!
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 7:16 am
Really? I wish I had that mentality. I ADORE eating out, sit down, fancy, take out, burgers, whatever… I like cooking but I think eating out is a very social thing for me so we go out to eat with friends and family alot. Maybe I’ll try to cook more on the weekends to have leftovers for the week. Good idea!
Julie — March 4, 2009 @ 7:16 am
Good for you making ravioli! I’ve never tried that, but it looks really good!
I need to give up fast food too… I’ve been doing so good for the most part, but it still happens… ugh.
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 7:25 am
It wasn’t too hard but I didn’t make my own pasta so that cut down on the time. But maybe some day I’ll make everything from scratch, even the pasta. I just have to convince my hubs to let me buy a pasta attachment for my KA mixer first. haha
Jen — March 4, 2009 @ 7:17 am
Nice work Clara. Car and I just made ravioli last night. They didn’t turn out as pretty as yours. I almost didn’t take pictures and told Car I just wouldn’t put it in my blog. He said “oh just blog it without pictures” Ha! Silly Car…
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 7:26 am
Really? GMTA! Are you still gonna post them? I wanna see! BU with no pictures? Oh husband. You have no clue. HAHA
Nikki — March 4, 2009 @ 7:19 am
Well I think you’ve pretty much guaranteed failure if you’re going for giving up fast food for a whole month
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 7:27 am
Thanks alot. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I can do it. Just wait and see… Hrrummph!
kim — March 4, 2009 @ 7:25 am
they look delicious! i have such a hard time cooking after work. i want to but it’s just sooo much easier and faster not to… i suppose i should plan ahead more but i’m just not that organized;)
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 7:29 am
TYVM! I blame drive-thrus, laziness and organization (ie I have none) for my fast food fetish. Finally someone that understands. Suddenly I don’t feel so alone. ;)
Di — March 4, 2009 @ 7:48 am
We almost never eat out or get take out. How do I do it? I try my best to plan meals for the whole week. Sometimes things get rearranged if I change my mind and really don’t want to make something on a particular night. I try to have a couple of easy things in there for the nights when I’m really tired. I keep my pantry well stocked to have options. We eat pizza pretty much weekly (that takes care of one night), and I always make a double batch of dough and freeze half (already portioned into individual pizza amounts) so I don’t have to make dough every week. I also make a big batch of sauce that can be used for pasta as well. And sometimes we just eat breakfast for dinner (pancakes are fast!). Most leftovers don’t get rerun for dinner since I take them for lunch–I try to make a meal at the beginning of the week that will make lots of leftovers for that reason. (spaghetti, chili, casseroles, soup, etc)
And there are still nights that I sit here at 9:30 thinking that I should really eat something, but don’t know what. (Some nights I feed the girls early and Jamie and I eat after they go to bed.) Last week it ended up being cereal… =)
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 8:02 am
Wow. Di, you’re like super mom! Love the idea of pizza dough/pizza night and breakfast for dinner is always fabulous! I think thats my problem. I need to keep my pantry and frig stocked better. I always seem to be out of the ingredient I need for the particular dish so the easiest alternative is fast food. Thanks for tips!
Di replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 8:42 am
I’m not trying to be super mom, just on a budget. =) (Day care is expensive!) Cooking is much cheaper than eating out. Even if I spend money on high quality ingredients. And most of the time I enjoy cooking. Of course, ask me again later when Brianna is complaining about what I made for dinner… =)
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 8:59 am
I hear what you’re saying. I totally agree. Eating at home is definitely cheaper. When I use to work part-time, I was able to cook every day b/c I wasn’t burned out from working and I know we saved money. We use to have the “eat out only 2 nights a week” rule but now we eat out practically every day. *hangs head*
food librarian — March 4, 2009 @ 7:55 am
These raviolis look great!! I don’t eat fast food much, but if I banned it, I think I would crave it even more! And during Lent, I buy one filet o fish per year (and I’m not even Catholic) because they are on sale on Fridays. ;)
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Yeah I maybe have just screwed myself by giving it up. I am that type personality that if I can’t have it I want it more. Fish Filet! Mmmm… those are tasty! Damn you. Now I want fish filet.
Linda — March 4, 2009 @ 9:19 am
That looks yummy. Very creative using wonton skins. Two thumbs up for putting a little asian flare. Nothing wrong with that. I think all husbands are wired the same way. My hubs says a meal is not complete without protein. I tease him that he should try cooking. That usually gets him to quiet down. :)
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
Actually I was too lazy to go buy eggroll wrappers but I am all about the Asian pride too. LOL. What’s up with men and their meat? (Ok that sounds dirty!!)
stephchows — March 4, 2009 @ 10:29 am
mmmmmmmmm ravioli!!!! For me, fast food is any chain restaurant. So if it has multiple locations over more than one state… I most likely wont eat there. I like to eat at locally owned places as much as possible :) Support the little guy! Eff the man! hahahaha
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
I like mom-pop places too. LOL @ eff the man!! Are you serious? Any chain restaurant?? Even like sit down restaurants?
stephchows replied: — March 5th, 2009 @ 6:43 am
I know I know I’m a bit extreme haha. Yeah pretty much, Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, Applebees… all OFF my list. Rochester is just so chocked full of locally owned AMAZING places that going to these places just seems wrong on so many levels. Plus if you ever look at the nutritionals for them… SCARYYY!!!
I’d rather support the local anyway. I mean just look at all these yum chow places! http://rocwiki.org/Restaurants mmmmmm I’m headed to Open Face http://openfacesandwicheatery.com/
for lunch today! WOOHOO!
Mary — March 4, 2009 @ 11:13 am
I went about 4 years without eating fast food. Now I eat it a couple times a week and sometimes (like maybe today) twice in one day. Planning meals just gets too complicated with a husband who may or may not inhale the whole dinner in one sitting. Honest to God I’ve come home and there’s been none left for me! (He says he thought I ate already. hmmph.) So I’ve become a big fan of the whopper jr with no mayo and Wendy’s baked potatoes.
CB replied: — March 4th, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
4 YEARS!?!? *bowing down* There’s is no way I could do it for 4 years. Heck I am starting to falter and its only been 1 day. I am totally part of the fast food nation. It’s bad. Really bad. *hangs head*
Carol Peterman — March 4, 2009 @ 9:09 pm
For me it is all about cooking a lot of extras that I can portion into single servings for the freezer. They become what is affectionately known as “freezer food.” It is fast food at the ready for the nights I just can’t pull off dinner, but it’s fast food that I made. I like to freeze the extra components separately so I can mix and match the leftovers. If I have extra lentils and cous cous I won’t mix them because then I can match either with something else in the freezer later. It has taken me years to realize that if I am going to take the time to prep 2 chicken breasts for the grill I might as well prep 4. The extra gets sliced and frozen so it is at the ready for quesadillas, pasta – or ravioli! Also, involved recipes I make on the weekend and mid-week it is quick and easy stuff. My motivation is that I enjoy cooking, but also I can cook dinners at home that I can’t afford to buy at a restaurant, so the reward is getting to eat better food by cooking rather than eating out. I would rather spend $15 on a beautiful piece of salmon a few potatoes and ingredients for a simple green salad than $15 at subway or our local burrito shop. It takes practice and planning, but you will really love eating the great food that you cook. Just look at how fantastic those ravioli look!
CB replied: — March 5th, 2009 @ 7:44 am
Wow. Thanks for all the tips! I definitely need to be more like that one chick on food network that makes multiple meals from one. What’s her name?? Uh… Robin something? You know it will come to me after I click reply right? haha
CB replied: — March 5th, 2009 @ 7:45 am
ROBIN MILLER!! That’s it. Glad I remembered or that would have bugged me ALL day.