Recipes

Since I’ve met J, my partner in crime who I insist on trying each and every food creation, I have been buying pre-packaged or frozen foods less and less. This can be a difficult task, especially when Costco is your favourite place to go when running weekend errands, but the freshness of foods is oh so worth it. I rarely buy pasta sauces or salsas, I am slowly learning how to make different bread recipes and I am also going to make perogies from scratch as well. Another thing on my list was pasta, but without a pasta maker or press, how was I going to achieve this goal.

After watching several youtube videos of little Italian grandmothers kneading away on the simplest of dough recipes and Mario Batali insisting that he started with a wine bottle as a rolling pin to make the perfect pasta I was determined to give it shot. Thankfully I have a rolling pin! This recipe isn’t Mario’s, but an adaptation of one from my Food & Wine magazine.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (it calls for “00” but I used all purpose)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (or sea salt) 

Filling

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup diced parsnips
• ¼ fresh grated Parmigianino
• 1 teaspoon champagne vinegar
• Salt
• Butter
• Chives, chopped parsley, aged balsamic for serving 

Make the dough in a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and process until crumbly. Gather the dough and knead until smooth. Wrap tightly in plastic and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make the filling Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the parsnips and 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and boil to evaporate any water.

Transfer the vegetables to the food processor and puree. Stir in the Parmigiano and Champagne vinegar and season with salt. Let the filling cool slightly, and then scrape it into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip. (I used a thick freezer style ziplock and cut the corner)

Cut the pasta dough into 4 pieces and keep wrapped. Using a hand-cranked pasta machine and dusting lightly with flour, run each piece of dough through each setting 3 times, beginning at the widest setting and ending at the second-to-the-narrowest. Place the pasta sheet on a floured work surface and cover with wax paper. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of pasta dough.

Working with one sheet at a time, cut the pasta into 2-inch squares. Lightly moisten the edges with water and pipe a scant teaspoon of parsnip filling in the center of each square. Fold the pasta corner to corner to form triangles and press out any air. Trim the edges with a fluted pastry wheel. Transfer the ravioli to a floured baking sheet.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli all at once and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

In a large skillet, melt the butter in the cooking water, swirling the pan until a creamy sauce forms. Add the ravioli and cook over moderately high heat until hot and coated with sauce. Transfer to plates. Garnish the ravioli with chives and parsley, drizzle aged balsamic on top and serve right away.

I have to say that if you have arms like mine, lacking and kind of masculine muscle, then this is going to give you an amazing upper body workout. I was actually sore the next day from rolling out the dough. It is fairly stiff and to get it down thin enough for ravioli, it’s going to take some strength. With that said, my ravioli ended up being a tad on the thick side. The taste of everything was amazing though. Fresh pasta has a whole other flavour and texture to it, which I imagine would be more like what you find in the homes of Italy (I have never actually been to Italy). The parsnip ended up being sweet and with the balsamic and cheese there is also this tangy, savoury flavour in it. I would absolutely make this again, although I might shop around for a pasta press