Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Ravioli Filling for Roasted Red Pepper Pasta


You would think that the remaining ravioli deep in my freezer were gold nuggets!  I will admit these were a little labor intensive (not for the beginner) since I made the pasta and filling from scratch.  If you're not feeling as ambitious it's okay to use wonton wrappers for your ravioli.  I've found that some chefs go that route, but because home made ravioli was on my "food to make" list,  I muddled through the process.

I won't post the actual red pepper pasta recipe until it is refined.  All I can say is that pureed roasted red pepper, an egg, oil, salt and copious amounts of flour were the ingredients.  Then came time to prepare the filling as I spread out, utilizing every corner of counter space.  

For the filling I used Italian chicken sausage, because that's what I had.  The recipe yielded about 3/4 cup of filling for approximately 100 ravioli (the smaller round size).  Was it worth the time and trouble to make these?  ABSOLUTELY!

Ingredients:

2 Italian sausages, removed from their casing and crumbled

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic (I had roasted garlic on hand)

1/8 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 Tbsp of an egg

In a skillet brown the sausage first with the onion and garlic if not using roasted.   Cool slightly and add to a food processor with all the remaining ingredients.  Pulse until blended well.  Fill your ravioli with the mixture.  

To freeze:  Put the ravioli on a parchment/floured sheet pan.  Place in the freezer for at least an hour and transfer to freezer bags.

To Cook:  No need to defrost from a frozen state.  For fresh add to rapidly boiling salted water.  When they rise to the top (usually about 2-3 minutes) they are done.

You can put your favorite topping/sauce but there was so much flavor from the red pepper pasta with the spicy filling I opted for simple olive oil and a sprinkling of cheese.  Enjoy!

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