Home Made Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

Pasta is something that you can crave for in any lazy morning. Shop bought pastas have always been my family's favourite since years; but never had the guts to try out home made pastas. Always heard that it is really tough and time consuming to make pastas at home. But for Indians who roll out rotis and especially for us who hails from  Malabar, its not a tedious task to roll out pasta dough. I felt the same as rolling out for Irachi Ada or Irachi Pathiri. Buying Pasta Machine makes your task easier. But the confusion, whether I will use it in regular basis , led me to use rolling pin for the same.

This pasta can either be served with white sauce or thyme butter. 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/ Pasta flour 50gm

Semolina flour 50gm

pinch of salt

Eggs 1

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tbsp cold water

Olive oil 1/2 tbsp

Garlic - 1 clove, chopped

Spinach- 130gms

Ricotta- 125 gms

Zest of 1/2 a lemon

Ground nutmeg- a pinch

Grated parmesan- 2 tbsp

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 and 1/2tbsp butter

Fresh thyme- 5 sprigs

freshly grated pepper

grated parmesan, to serve

Method:

Sift together the pasta flour and semolina flour, add pinch of salt.

 Make a well in the middle, add the eggs and olive oil and start mixing with a fork to incorporate the eggs and flour mixture. 

When the dough begins to come together, start kneading the dough with both hands, pouring in a little bit of water until soft and smooth. It takes about 10 minutes. The dough should be elastic and not sticky. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic and saute for a minute. Add the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes just until wilted. Transfer it to a colander and let cool slightly, then squeeze out any excess liquid. Roughly chop the spinach. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, lemon zest, nutmeg, cheese and spinach, add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the dough in half and start rolling it with your rolling pin/pasta machine. Each time you run the dough through, fold it and run it through again on the same thickness setting. Roll it until it's paper thin. 

Place the pasta sheet on a floured surface and spoon the spinach mixture on top, making sure there is at least a 3cm space around each spoonful. Lightly wet the dough around the filling. 

Place the second sheet of pasta over the filling, press the dough down gently with your fingers to seal the dough around the filling. Cut out the individual ravioli pieces with a pasta wheel/zigzag cutter and place on a floured surface. Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets and filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add a tablespoon of oil, reduce the heat and gently cook the ravioli in batches for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the water, drain and keep warm.

For the thyme butter, melt the butter in a pan, add the thyme and fry for less than one minute. Remove from the heat and add some freshly grated pepper.

Serve the ravioli on a warmed plate, pour over some thyme butter and sprinkle with the parmesan.

Ravioli in white sauce:

Add 1 tbsp of butter in a hot pan. Saute a tbsp of white flour in it for a few seconds until it slightly turn into brown or till the raw smell disappears. Pour in 1 glass of milk . Mix thoroughly so that no lumps remains. Add half a tsp of dry basil and a pinch of oregano. Once it is thickened, switch off the flame and mix in the raviolis. Serve hot.

Spicy Prawns Spaghetti

A Spicy and Tangy Spaghetti is something that can make an evening special for the family. How about some prawns in it? The tomato based sauce in this recipe, gets its seasoning from the spicy prawns in it.You can substitute sausages for prawns here.

Pasta recipes are simple to make and delectable. You can play with your own choice of pasta in any of the recipes found here.  I've already posted a few of pasta recipes while some are there pending in my folders. A few of the ones in the upcoming lists are home made Raviolis, Pasta in pesto and Penne arabiatta.




Ingredients:

Tiger Prawns 6 or more
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Onion 1 1/2
Tomato 7
Spaghetti 300gm
Garlic 4 cloves
Chilli flakes 1 1/2 tsp
Pepper 1 + 1/2 tsp
Basil leaves 1 sprig or 1 tsp of dry basil
Cheese (optional)
Parsley/coriander leaves 2-3 tbsp
Tomato ketchup 1-2 tbsp

Method:


Boil spaghetti for 3-4 mts. Then switch off the flame. Keep it covered for 8-10more minutes and your spaghetti is done. This is the way I cook my pasta. I know this is not the right way; but it prevents me from over-cooking them.

Marinate prawns with a tsp of red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp of pepper powder alongwith salt and then shallow fry in a deep bottomed pan. Take the prawns out and then add garlic to it and saute till the raw smell goes and the color changes a bit. ie; 30-60 seconds. Add chopped onions to it and saute till it turns transparent. You can use the same oil in which u fried the prawns or use fresh oil. If you are using the same oil, don't leave it for smoking. Saute onions immediately.

Blend tomatoes in a blender and add to it. Always choose fresh and ripe tomatoes for pastas.

Season with all the spices. Simmer till the sauce is done. 8- 10 mts. Add tomato ketchup to it. Mix it well and add prawns. Simmer for 2-3 mts. Your sauce is done. Throw in the parsley.


Now you can serve it in two ways. Either plate your spaghetti and top with the sauce individually or Mix the entire spaghetti in sauce nicely; but don't break the spaghetti. Use two spatulas or spoons to mix it well nicely.

Pasta with olives, tomatoes and chilli

We Indians always wanted our dish to be so complicated, oily and spicy. We had an assumption that these are the factors which turn our dish to tasty. But these days, as international cuisine stepped into every kitchen, we love to be lazy and experiment with pastas, noodles or the same. But these can be healthy too with little of fat and spices; but damn tasty.

This is a simple pasta tossed with vegetables and olives.

Ingredients:

Penne or any other pasta 500 gm
Olive oil
Baby tomatoes
garlic cloves 4 chopped
chilli 1
salt and pepper, to taste
eggplant 1
Bell peppers (yellow & red) 1/4 cup
black olives, pitted
parsley 2 tbsp, chopped

Method:

1. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente.

2. In the meantime, heat oil in a frying pan and cook tomatoes, garlic, eggplants, peppers and chilli until tomatoes begin to burst.

3. Drain pasta and add to tomato mixture and toss. Add olives and toss again. Garnish with parsley

Pasta spinach and meat sauce

'A cheesy and tangy pasta' - yes, that's the exact description  for this dish. Though cheese used depends entirely upon your choice, this is a healthy option. The taste of white sauce with spinach stand out in this. The minced meat sauce  gives it a tangy and spicy non-veg. touch . You can use non-minced meat (cubed in small pieces) for this dish too... or you may omit this one. The spinach and white sauce may itself give a complete taste.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta, cooked 400 gms
Spinach 250gms
Onion 45gms
Garlic 30gms
Cheddar cheese 35gms
Butter 25 gms



For white sauce:

Milk 300gms
Plain flour 30gms
Butter 30gms
Nutmeg 2 gms
Salt & Pepper to taste


For Meat Sauce:


Beef Mince 200gms
Chopped Onion 35gms
Chopped Garlic 15gms
Chopped celery 15 gms
Chopped tomato 65 gms
Tomato paste 25gms
Bay Leaf 1
Salt & Pepper to taste
Beef stock or water as required

Method:


White Sauce:

1.Heat a thick-bottomed pan and add butter.

2.When the butter melts, add flour. Keep stirring till the raw smell of the flour is gone. Ensure that the flour does not brown.

3.Now add milk gradually whisking continously so that lumps do not form. Cook on a simmer till the sauce begins to thicken. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and keep aside.

4.In a thick bottomed frying pan add butter and saute onions and garlic till translucent. Now add spinach and cook for few minutes. Add white sauce and stir well. Correct seasoning, if required.

Meat Sauce:

1.In a thick bottomed pan, heat oil and saute onion, garlic, celery and bay leaf, until the onions are translucent.
2.Add minced beef and saute till the juices released dry up.

3.Now add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes.

4.Add enough stock or water to allow the mince to cook. Check for seasoning and cook till it is almost dry.

5.To serve, in a deep serving dish, spoon pasta, meat sauce and stir fried spinach side by side. Top with cheese and gratinate in an oven for 10-15 mts. Serve hot

Penne in Thousand Island

Penne and crunchy vegetables tossed in a rich creamy dressing.

Recipe Courtesy: Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:


Penne, boiled 1 cup
Thousand Island dressing 1/2 cup
Olive oil 1 tbsp
Green capsicum, seeded,small triangles 1/2 medium
Onion, quartered 1 medium
Carrot, large pieces, blanched 1 medium
Broccoli, separated into small florets, blanched 1/4 small
French beans, large diagonal pieces, blanched 3-4
Cherry tomatoes, halved 10-12
Stuffed olives 4-5

Method:


Apply oil on boiled pasta and place in a large mixing bowl. Add green capsicum, onion, carrot, broccoli, French beans, cherry tomatoes and stuffed olives. Add Thousand Island dressing, toss lightly and serve chilled.




Posting this to Only salad Event by Pratibha & Pari

Rotini Cilantro Pesto Pasta

 Was always fond of Pastas..easy to prepare & yummy to eat...I saw this one from Super Yummy Recipes a day before & i just knew it that I had to make it...;checked ma fridge..saw all those ingredients ther in it...didn't wait for a second...made this pasta ,the same day !!
I used to try out pastas with different sauces, among which bolognese & white sauces are ma favorites. I had tried Pesto sauce with Spinach also; but never with cilantro (coriander)... this time it tasted delicious...a gud way to make our kids eat leafy vegetables. I took the pictures the next day (a plate of pasta ws reserved for that..:) that the sauces were seen a bit dry in these pictures. But these were delicious whether dry or wet !! Can have it at any time of the day without much a trouble...So friends, go ahead & try this... Here's the link for the recipe...

Rotini Cilantro Pesto Pasta