I'm backkkkk!
Well, I actually got back on Monday night--but things have been quite hectic since then. As it turns out, our power was out the entire week we were on vacation. No good. Very no good.
It was really really no good on Tuesday morning when I threw entirely everything away from my rotting, stinky refrigerator.
Next weeks grocery bill is going to break the budget, that's for sure.
But alas, vacation was splendid--it was nice to see everyone that we only get to see every half a year or so (the Hubs & I are both from Michigan so most of our family and friends are still there...)
My
plants all survived the week--this year, unlike
last year, I remembered to find them a sitter.
So, are you drooling from the
preview of the recipe I'm about to share with you? I am. I actually made it a few weeks ago--and the thought of it still has me weak at the knees.
Portobello Ravioli with Smoky Sun-dried Tomato Sauce
What you'll need:
For the raviolis:
1 pound of portobello mushrooms
1 onion
1/4 cup butter
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano
For the sauce:
2 cups of milk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
8 ounces of smoked gouda
1 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
For the ravioli:
You'll need 1 pound of portobello mushrooms--I used the baby ones.
To wash mushrooms--I usually run them under cold water for a second, just to get them wet, then with a paper towel, just wipe off any gunk or dirt. They will probably still look dirty, but as long as they are free of dirt, they are fine. You will never be able to scrub them entirely white.
Chop the mushrooms into a fine dice...
Annnd...keep chopping...
You'll need to do the same with a small onion.
This would have been a nice time to have a food processor. If you have one, please, by all means, use it. It's worth it.
Heat a medium fry pan on medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion stirring until translucent, then add the mushrooms.
Cook the mushrooms and onions until they are soft. Season this mixture with salt, pepper, garlic powder (or fresh chopped garlic--I was rushed), and oregano--to taste. Set this aside to let it cool.
With the pasta dough (
recipe here), I left you with your dough rolled into a ball, resting.
Uncover your dough, and start rolling it out. If it's sticky, dust the countertop with flour (it's okay to use a lot). Cut the dough into 4 sections--this will make rolling much, much easier.
At this point, I started to use my pasta machine to roll the rest of the dough. If you don't have one of those--just keep rolling! You want your dough to be relatively thin--about the thickness of a quarter.
Keep rolling, rolling, rolling...Keep that pasta rolling...Rolling, rolling, rolling...Roll outtttt.
When your dough is ready--lay it out in a sheet on the counter. Spoon tablespoon sized scoops of the filling onto the dough in a grid-like pattern.
With a finger, brush water or egg yolk in the seams.
Place an equal sized sheet of dough on top of your filling-mounds.
Carefully, start pressing the two layers of dough together around the mounds...
With a pizza cutter (or a knife), cut the ravioli into squares.
Seal each individual ravioli--pressing out all the air pockets.
You may to, then, trim the edges so the pieces are more uniform in shape.
Tada!
To cook these--heat a large pot of water. Bring it to a rapid boil and throw in a large handful of salt. I cannot stress two points enough: LARGE pot. LARGE handful of salt.
You need the large pot so the raviolis have room to swim around and not stick to each other.
You need a lot of salt in the water to season the pasta. The water should taste like saltwater. This really makes a difference, I promise.
These will only need to cook for about 3-4 minutes.
For the sauce:
Git yer gouda...
And shred it. All of it.
I want to tell you a secret about this gouda.
I was shopping for my gouda--looking in the fancy cheese section of my grocery store. There they had an 8 ounce block of Boar's Head Smoked Gouda for $8.99. $8.99! For a
half a pound!
Then I thought about something...
I thought, "Hmm...We used to get Boars Head Smoked Gouda at work--and it came in a big block that you have to slice like a deli does...I wonder if the deli here has it too?!"
So, I wandered over to the deli counter--and lo and behold, they had a big ole block of smoked gouda. And guess what?! It was $8.99 for an entire pound! That's half the price!
I asked the kind, deli-sir to put the slicer as thick as it would go and slice me a nice chunk of the cheese. He rang it in--and it was on sale!
So here it is, I got .62 pounds of this cheese for $4.95, instead of .5 pounds of the same cheese, just individually wrapped, for $8.99--in the same grocery store.
I should be an extreme couponer. Except without the coupons. Just the brains.
I also grated about 1 cup of parmesan cheese.
Then I chopped up some sun-dried tomatoes to have them ready.
Next, I heated my sauce pan and melted my butter.
Once the butter was melted, I added the flour.
Stir the butter and flour around until it forms a clump.
Yes, a clump. That's the best word I can think of to describe it.
Once in clump state, slowly start adding the milk.
I added about 1/2 cup at a time.
Make sure the milk is entirely mixed in before adding more.
This will prevent lumps.
It's a slow process, but it will be soooo worth it when you sauce is velvety and smooth--not lumpy and floury.
You should end up with a thick, smooth cream that tastes really gross.
So lets make it taste better!
Add in the grated cheeses--save a little of the parmesan for sprinkling later
Also, add in the dice sun-dried tomatoes.
Stir in some salt and pepper, as well as garlic powder, until it tastes how you like it.
This sauce is absolutely delicious.
Drool.....
Cook your raviolis--then just dump gobs and gobs of sauce on top.
This will be the best ravioli you've ever had.
No, seriously. It will be.
Like, I licked my plate. I really did.
Yum.
