Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in Mushroom Sauce

I know, as pasta week comes to a close we'll probably need to start salad week soon.  I've just been having so much fun playing around with the new pasta maker.  

This dish certainly isn't the nicest looking plate that I've put together, but what it lacked in presentation it more than made up for in taste.  I found a couple of recipes from Foodtv.com that I used as the framework for my first attempt at homemade ravioli.  The ravioli is a mix of ricotta and spinach, and the sauce has great mushrooms flavor and crispy pancetta.

  

First thing first is to bring a pot of water to a boil for the spinach, and later for the pasta.  To get started on the ravioli, follow the recipe for the light wheat pasta.  The only difference is that you roll the pasta out in flat sheets and never run it through the slicer.  I quartered the dough and ended up with 4 sheets of pasta.

Next, work on the stuffing for the ravioli.  You will need:

A few handfuls of fresh spinach (blanched, drained, and chopped)

1/2 cup or more of ricotta

1 egg

pinch of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of 1/2 and 1/2

4 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper.  I really think that you can add anything to stuff the ravioli.  This is just one of countless variations.   

Next, scoop the ravioli onto a sheet of pasta.  I made a big mistake here and put in way too much stuffing.  Next time I will put half as much on the sheets.  

Next, place the other sheet of pasta on top and press around the stuffing.  Try to eliminate any air bubbles.  The issue that I ran into was I used a ravioli press, and the press was a bit too small (or my raviolis were too big).  Next time I will make smaller raviolis and if needed, use the pizza roller instead of the ravioli press.

After you cover the ravioli, just use the press or roller to form the raviolis. 

Set the raviolis to the side and get working on the sauce.  The sauce takes about 10 minutes and the raviolis cook in about 4, so try to time it right.  For the sauce, you will need:

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 lb of pancetta

3 cups of sliced mushrooms (I used oyster and crimini)

1 1/3 cups of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of butter

salt and pepper

Add the pancetta to the pan with a small drizzle of olive oil.  When pancetta is just about crispy, add the garlic and the mushrooms, cook down the mushrooms until they are totally awesome

Add the chicken stock along with salt and pepper and reduce (about 5 minutes).  After a few minutes, add the raviolis to the pot of boiling water.  When stock reduces by about 2/3, add a bit of butter and mix in until sauce forms.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.   By now the ravioli should be done, remove from water and mix into the sauce. 

Again, not the prettiest dish, but seriously tasty.  If I had some parsley on hand I would have chopped some up and added it on top to add a bit of color.  Still, really rich mushroom flavor in the sauce and the ravioli were ridiculously good. 

Next time, in addition to smaller ravioli, I will wait until the wife is home to make this again.  The key to making a dish like this in a small kitchen is to wash dishes as you cook so that you have enough counter space.  Needless to say, I miss having my dishwasher at home but she'll be back tomorrow.