Candied Lemons: Mothers Day Ravioli

I haven't spent Mothers Day with my Mom in six years. She came into town and I put her to work on some ravioli. When Alicia was in town, she mentioned she had made homemade ricotta. The idea sounded amazing and simple. With this in mind, my mom and I decided to tackle making our first ever ricotta cheese (or any cheese for that matter). We added the ricotta with a spinach garlic mixture and then decided that one flavor was not enough. That was when the butternut squash ravioli was born. Below is the recipe for homemade pasta, spinach filling, butternut squash filling, and a cream sauce that will blow your mind. Please send me the photos if you tackle this recipe.

Enjoy and Happy Mothers Day!

Butternut Squash Filling:

I am going to start with this because it takes the most amount of time due to the roasting.

Ingredients

Butternut Squash
Sea salt
Olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.With a peeler, peel the squash and lightly cover it in olive oil.
3. Then with a knife poke the squash all over.
4. Wrap the squash in foil.
5. Bake the squash for 1hour and 45 minutes or until it is soft all over. The time depends on the size of the squash.
6. Let the squash cool.
7. Take out the seeds and stringy middle.
8. Puree squash adding a tsp of sea salt.

Set the squash aside and get ready to make ricotta.

Fresh Ricotta Cheese:

Click here to go to the recipe I used to make my Fresh Ricotta Cheese.

Ingredients

8 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1.Line colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth; set in sink.

2.Bring milk and salt to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.

3.Stir in lemon juice.

4. Let simmer until curds form, 1 to 2 minutes.

5.Using finely slotted spoon or skimmer, scoop curds from pan and transfer to cheesecloth-lined colander.

6. Let drain 1 minute (curds will still be a little wet).

7.Transfer curds to medium bowl.

8.Cover and chill until cold, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Spinach Filling:

After the ricotta chills you will add some of it to the spinach for the ravioli filling.

Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh spinach

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of white wine

1/2 of a lemon

2 Tblsp olive oil

1 Tblsp sea salt

1 cup of fresh ricotta

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to hot saute pan

2. Saute garlic until it is heated

3. Squeeze in lemon and wine

4. Toss in spinach and cook until it is wilted

5. Cool mixture

6. Puree spinach mixture with ricotta

Pasta/Ravioli Dough

Click here to go to the recipe I used to make the Pasta Dough. This is a great link because it shows how to prepare pasta in many different ways (ravioli, spaghetti, etc).

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups Italian “00” flour (or half Italian “00” flour and half Farina di Semola)
2 medium or large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Sift the flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center with your fist.

2. Break the eggs into the well and add the oil and a pinch of salt to the well.

3. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough. If the dough feels too dry, add a few drops of water; if it’s too wet, add a little more flour. (You will soon grow accustomed to how the dough should feel after you’ve made it a few times.)

4. Knead the pasta until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes. Lightly massage it with a hint of olive oil, pop the dough into a plastic food bag, and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The pasta will be much more elastic after resting.

5. Start to feed the blob of pasta dough through the widest setting of a pasta machine. As the sheet of dough comes out of the machine, fold it into thirds and then feed it through the rollers again, still on the widest setting. Pass the dough through this setting a total of 4 or 5 times. This effectively kneads the dough, ensuring the resulting pasta is silky smooth.

6. Pass the pasta through the machine again, starting at the widest setting and gradually reducing the settings, one pass at a time, until the pasta achieves the required thickness. The pasta sheet will become very long—if you are having trouble keeping the dough from folding onto itself or are making ravioli, cut the sheet of dough in half and feed each half through separately. Generally the second-from-last setting is best for tagliatelle and the last setting is best for ravioli and any other shapes that are to be filled.

7. After the pasta has reached the requisite thickness, hang it over a broom handle or the back of a chair to dry a little—this will make cutting it easier in humid weather, as it will not be so sticky. Or, if you’re in a hurry, you can dust the pasta with a little flour and place it on clean kitchen towels and let it rest for just a short spell.

8. If your dough is still in a single sheet, cut it into two equal portions. Cover one portion with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap while you work with the rest of the dough.

9.Spoon small mounds (1 teaspoon approximately) of filling on the dough in even rows, spacing them at 1 1/2-inch intervals.

10.Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the spaces of dough between the mounds with beaten egg.
11.Using a rolling pin, carefully drape the reserved sheet of dough on top of the mounds, pressing down firmly between the pockets of filling to push out any trapped air.

12.Use a serrated ravioli or pastry cutter or a sharp knife to cut the ravioli into squares. Transfer to a floured kitchen towel to rest for 1 hour before cooking.

Mothers Cream Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup butter
3 cups half and half
1 Tbls
1 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup 00 flour

Direction
1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
2. Add the salt and flour.
3. Stir until thick and bubbly.
4.Whisk in the half and half.

5. Cook until it thickens over a low heat.
6. Add the parmesan.

Pour over ravioli. This was worth the work. I wish I had made more pasta dough so I could have frozen more for later.

Butternut Squash Ravioli