Back in late August, Chris and I, like so many of us foodies, were doing our best to use up the last of our delicious summer garden vegetables. The gardening is his domain, and between his herbs and our parents’ vegetable gardens, we had a lot of peppers and tomatoes to go through. I suggested we make some easy homemade ravioli and use the vegetables in a sauce. We did that, and it was delicious, as anything made with garden-fresh ingredients tends to be. But, that’s not my point on this blustery day when snow is in the forecast yet again. I want to talk about what I did with the extra ravioli I had stuck in the freezer.
It was a school night and we had taken out a couple of steaks to thaw, figuring we’d steam some Trader Joe’s frozen haricots verts for a relatively well-rounded meal. Then we had an unexpected dinner guest, a rare thing for a school night, but it does happen sometimes. There was definitely not enough meat for three, and I was looking around for something to enhance the dinner. That’s when I remembered the raviolis, and thought they would make a nice little prelude that would tempt the palate and stretch the food out just a bit.
Now the raviolis were what I call the cheating kind, as Santa still has not brought me the pasta maker I keep asking for. Instead I used wonton wrappers that I purchased from the local Asian market. But first I made the filling with the following ingredients all mixed together in a bowl: 1 oz. soft fresh goat cheese, ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup shredded Romano cheese, 2 oz. Marscapone, and ½ tablespoon each of the following chopped fresh herbs – thyme, tarragon, parsley, chives. I laid out a dozen wonton wrappers at a time on a floured surface, filled, folded, and repeated until I was out of wrappers and/or filling. My notes say I ended up with 39 “ravioli,” plenty for dinner that day and some for the freezer.
I wanted to use the ravioli this time as a quick appetizer. I didn’t have a lot of time to start messing around with a homemade sauces or fresh herbs and vegetables, mostly because I didn’t really have any! First I filled a shallow bowl with hot water and put six frozen ravioli in to thaw and separate a bit. When they had loosened up, I let them sit on a wooden board to dry. I took a medium non-stick frying pan and put in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. I melted the butter and added a few shakes of dried ground sage. I put the ravioli in and let them brown in the butter. Then I covered them and let them cook for two minutes. I flipped them and did the same on the other side. Right before taking them out of the pan, I “bathed” them in the butter by spooning the butter over them a few times. I put them on small plates, one resting over the other, with the slightest bit of nutmeg. Chris and J were quite impressed, and the little “filler” did its job.
It was a school night and we had taken out a couple of steaks to thaw, figuring we’d steam some Trader Joe’s frozen haricots verts for a relatively well-rounded meal. Then we had an unexpected dinner guest, a rare thing for a school night, but it does happen sometimes. There was definitely not enough meat for three, and I was looking around for something to enhance the dinner. That’s when I remembered the raviolis, and thought they would make a nice little prelude that would tempt the palate and stretch the food out just a bit.
Now the raviolis were what I call the cheating kind, as Santa still has not brought me the pasta maker I keep asking for. Instead I used wonton wrappers that I purchased from the local Asian market. But first I made the filling with the following ingredients all mixed together in a bowl: 1 oz. soft fresh goat cheese, ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup shredded Romano cheese, 2 oz. Marscapone, and ½ tablespoon each of the following chopped fresh herbs – thyme, tarragon, parsley, chives. I laid out a dozen wonton wrappers at a time on a floured surface, filled, folded, and repeated until I was out of wrappers and/or filling. My notes say I ended up with 39 “ravioli,” plenty for dinner that day and some for the freezer.
I wanted to use the ravioli this time as a quick appetizer. I didn’t have a lot of time to start messing around with a homemade sauces or fresh herbs and vegetables, mostly because I didn’t really have any! First I filled a shallow bowl with hot water and put six frozen ravioli in to thaw and separate a bit. When they had loosened up, I let them sit on a wooden board to dry. I took a medium non-stick frying pan and put in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. I melted the butter and added a few shakes of dried ground sage. I put the ravioli in and let them brown in the butter. Then I covered them and let them cook for two minutes. I flipped them and did the same on the other side. Right before taking them out of the pan, I “bathed” them in the butter by spooning the butter over them a few times. I put them on small plates, one resting over the other, with the slightest bit of nutmeg. Chris and J were quite impressed, and the little “filler” did its job.
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