What we've been eating

I've been wanting to tell you for a couple weeks now that I made some really good homemade pumpkin and spinach ravioli in a sage brown butter sauce with a dollop of fresh ricotta on top . The reason I haven't written about it yet is because I keep forgetting to write down for myself how I actually made it so I could edit and share on the blog. We've invited a couple to dinner this weekend, one of whom is vegetarian, and I think this pasta dish will be perfect... which means I need to re-create it.

Using Chinese wonton wrappers (I'm tellin' ya, these little noodles are handy for more things than you can swat a broom at) - specifically the yellow kind that are made with eggs - place a teaspoon or so of filling between two of them, boil them in a very gentle boil, and then toss them in the brown butter.

For the filling, 1 can of organic unseasoned pumpkin, 1 bunch of washed and spun spinach with the tough stems removed, very finely chopped 1/2 small onion, garlic to taste, nutmeg to taste, brown sugar to taste, salt and pepper to taste, a handful or so of grana-padano (substitute parmesano-reggiano or pecorino-romano depending on if you want stronger or milder or using up whatever you have already), a smidge (couple tablespoons maybe) of half-and-half.

Wilt your spinach and set it aside.

In a pan, heat a little butter or olive oil, wilt the onion and garlic, add the pumpkin, brown sugar and spices until warmed through. Add the wilted spinach and mix well. On low heat, add the half-and-half (or use cream or milk if you prefer more or less fat) and stir to blend it in. Take the mixture off the heat and mix in the cheese. Set the mixture aside.

Prepare a floured surface. Beat 1 egg. Set out your wonton wrappers, keeping extras covered with a damp towel. Place filling on each round wonton wrapper, coat the edge of your wrapper with egg by dipping your finger or brush into the beaten egg, lay the second wrapper on top and seal the edges well while trying to squeeze out any extra air. Set each ravioli onto the floured surface while you continue to work quickly. Drop a few at a time into very gently boiling salted water. When they come to the surface and the wontons look cooked, take them out with a slotted spoon and glide them into your pan with the brown butter sauce.

The brown butter sauce takes patience -- unsalted butter over low to med-low heat. I added sage and red pepper flakes but don't if you don't want to. You don't want the butter to separate but just to slightly turn color. Once it starts to turn, it will turn quickly so watch it very very carefully and take it off the heat once you've achieved your color. If you mess up, hey, it's just butter. Toss it and start again. Toss the cooked ravioli in the sauce, turn onto a pasta dish and put a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese on top for serving. This amount of filling should make about 36 ravioli I think.

NEXT!

The other night I made a Greek salad with baked chicken -- I know it sounds pedestrian compared to some of the other things I've written about but when you marinate the chicken and make your own salad dressing and add all the right ingredients to your salad, it's better than eating out!

I prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs to breasts but if you prefer white, this recipe obviously still works. In a ziptop bag or other container, place chicken pieces, garlic to taste, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste, pour natural plain yogurt or buttermilk to cover, and mix. Let rest at room temperature about 20 minutes. In the meantime preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until about half done, turn over, and cook the rest of the way. Can't give you times because it will depend on the thickness of your pieces of chicken. You could instead broil or grill this. Baking makes it easy and gives you more time to chop up everything for the salad. When your chicken is done, let it rest, then slice it for topping off your salad.

For the salad I use romaine lettuce because I like the variety of the leafy green part with the crunchier white parts. Slice a yellow bell pepper (cored and seeded) into rings. Use good quality kalamata olives and feta cheese (if you have a choice, choose fetas which are stored in water, these will have a better brinier flavor). You don't need to, and in fact shouldn't, use too many olives or too much cheese. A little bit goes a long way with some of these stronger flavors. Chop a good handful of walnuts (I always think of walnuts going well with Greek food, maybe it's the astringency in the walnuts). Add very very thinly sliced red onions. If they are strong, put them on a separate dish, squeeze fresh lemon juice over them and allow them to sit while you finish putting things together. At the last minute, rinse the onions of the lemon juice and dry on a paper towel before adding into the salad. You can't have a Greek salad without cucumbers and tomatoes, so chop up some of those and toss in. If you have a jar of them hanging around, add a couple of those little pickled green hot peppers. You can find them in any grocery in the pickle aisle. (If you didn't want chicken, because sometimes you ate chicken 5 nights in a row already, treat yourself to a good quality canned tuna packed in olive oil, or better yet a fresh piece of grilled tuna, to top off this salad.)

For the dressing: a little red wine vinegar (we make our own which is unspeakably easy), fresh squeezed lemon juice, a little water, a very little good quality honey (clover honey is often just sweet without a good rich honey flavor - go for something like an herbal or wildflower honey which is not too expensive but has a little more depth, which you can tell by comparing colors). Add a little chopped garlic (unless you put too much in your chicken already), dried oregano, salt and pepper, rosemary (optional), and finally whisk in some good quality extra virgin olive oil. Your ratio of oil, acid, and water should be approximately in equal thirds. If you like a thicker dressing, reduce the amount of oil and whisk in a dab of yogurt.

Finally, I made "from scratch" buttermilk biscuits and ground my own pork country sausage a few days ago. I'll write about that some other time. Admittedly, it wasn't stunning, so you're not missing anything. :)