Sausage spinach and cheese Ravioli

Tonight's dinner was ravioli stuffed with sausage, spinach, and a combination of Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. As a side, I included a small salad and fresh French bread, made from scratch. It was not a complicated dish but quite time consuming. In the end, it was worth all the effort. It took about an hour to an hour and a half to make, and made 20 ravioli.

I began the dish by starting the pasta sauce. Combine the following items in a sauce pot, cover and simmer for at least an hour, better if you let it simmer for longer (about 4 hours) and let it be.

Sauce:

3, 6 ounce cans of tomato paste

24 fluid ounces of water

1 tablespoon of sugar

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon pesto seasoning (basil, parsley, oregano)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

Filling:

2 mild Italian sausages

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1/2 bundle fresh spinach

1 egg

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

First, brown the two sausages. While that is cooking, shred half a block of mozzarella and half a block of Parmigiano cheese.  Then, crumble the sausage and place it in a bowl along with the two cheeses. Always use block cheese, and shred yourself. It IS cheaper and taste better.

Next item to be prepared is the spinach. Wash about half a bundle. We buy it fresh and it isn't exactly a measured quantity, but I say error on the side of caution and use as much as you can.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt then place the spinach into it for about three minutes. It cooks quick and reduces greatly. Strain it and put it some where it can cool off. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze all the water out of the leaves, making it into a round ball of green. It is unattractive at this point, which is why I used the picture of the raw leaves. Chop the ball up into small bits and add to the mixing bowl. Next, crack a whole egg into the mixture and add the nutmeg, heavy cream, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and place in the fridge. 

Pasta dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

4 whole eggs

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 to 2 tablespoons filtered water (as needed)

In a mixing cup, break eggs, add oil and salt. Mix and set aside. Place flour in mixing bowl then use a fork to mix the egg mixture. When it begins to come together, wet your hands and begin to knead the dough. It should be kneaded for about 10 minuets. Be careful not to tear the dough. Use the palm of your hands and turn it over constantly. You may want to move to a lightly floured board, but you have to use some body weight to get it nice and smooth. Wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and set somewhere cool for 20 minutes.

I have done the pasta using a rolling pin in the past, but I quickly learned that I needed to buy a pasta rolling machine. It really helps and I whole heartily recommend buying one if you like to eat pasta.

Quarter the dough, removing 1/4 from the wrap. Place the dough through the machine on its widest setting (Mine is #7). When it comes out, fold the dough into thirds then roll it through (along the folds) five to six more times. Each time you should rotate 90 degrees. Lightly flour the dough and reduce the roller setting by one. Roll it through until you get past #4. Cut the dough in half and run it through the #3 setting, then set aside. You will want to flour the dough if you are going to stack the pieces. 

Continue through the whole ball of dough as instructed above.

Egg Wash:

1 whole egg

1 tablespoon filtered water

In a small cup, combine water and egg. Whisk until fully combined.

You will need two pieces of dough. If you look closely at the bottom piece, you can see where I lightly stamped mine with my ravioli cutter. Brush the egg wash around the inside if the stamped markings, or as an alternative, paint the entire piece of dough.

Using a spoon, scoop out some filling and make into small ball. Place several balls on the dough (approximately 3 inches apart) and cover with the second piece of dough. Press the dough down, starting from one edge, around the entire spinach/cheese filling. If an air pocket develops, use a knife to pop it. Remember to lightly close the hole you made, by pinching the dough.

Use your ravioli cutter to finish the rest of the raviolis. If the ravioli are going to be stored, even for one minute, you must lightly flour them, top and bottom. I keep them on a plate, in the freezer, until I cook them. You can recycle the dough, back through the pasta roller to make more pasta.

Bring a pot of filtered water to a boil, add salt and drop five ravioli in at a time. They should cook for about three minutes. You can tell they are done because they float, and because you already ate two of them before you served anyone else. :) A good chef always taste their food, ha ha! When they are done, you must add some pasta sauce to them or they will glue to each other. If you are going to save them for later, just don't let them touch, and they freeze perfectly well.  Mangia, mangia!