Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Shop, cook, eat, drink, post, repeat.
 
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:15 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 7:48 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:56 am
Posts: 531
Location: Virginia
Made pasta and then cannelloni and four-cheese ravioli for company last weekend, along with tuxedo cake layers frosted with Carol Bloom's mocha buttercream. So good. (And an excellent bribe for a vendor I need a favor from.)

It was also the first time I'd made Marcella Hazen's pesto recipe. Did it in advance and froze cubes without the softened butter and two cheeses. It was excellent, along with a healthy amount of heavy cream for the sauce, of course. Also tried Giada's recipe for the ravioli filling, and it was definitely superior to a variety of other fillings I've used over the years. One interesting difference is hers calls for bread crumbs. The only downside is my garnishing technique with the red sauce needs a ton of work.

Emilie


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:16 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:41 pm
Posts: 1884
Location: Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Both of those look amazing. What book is the filling from? I have a couple of hers.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:24 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:56 am
Posts: 531
Location: Virginia
Actually I found it on the food network site, Jean. The addition of mascarpone made a difference, I'm sure. One thing that I thought was interesting was the 'plain bread crumbs." I hadn't used canned bread crumbs in a long time, but I decided she would have had to have specified "fresh" if that's what she was talking about. After making/eating it, I think the packaged ones worked because they absorbed some moisture and also added a bit of texture.

And the cannelloni is always a huge hit every time I make it. It's from an old recipe I got from my SIL years ago. Will be glad to share it if anyone's interested!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:50 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:33 pm
Posts: 954
Location: Northern California
wow! :!:


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:02 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:05 pm
Posts: 1191
Location: Chico, CA
Hi Emilie, did you use your regular pasta recipe that you so kindly shared? I would love the cannelloni recipe. Years ago, Olive Garden had a 3 cannelloni dish. The pasta was not thick like manicotti and one filling was meat (veal I think), the other was cheese, not sure what the third was or the sauce. I loved the meat and the cheese ones.

Found Giada's recipe and have copied to my LC. Is the pesto recipe in The Essentials of Italian Cooking?

I save all my bread ends (except for the healthy seedy ones), dry them naturally, pulverize them and freeze them. Use them along with Cuban Cracker crumbs and Matzo crumbs for my breaded Cuban steak.

TIA

_________________
Alina


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:21 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:50 pm
Posts: 2062
Try putting your sauce in a squeeze bottle; then you can drizzle and splotch it with much more control. That's how restaurants used to put fancy beet purée swirls on cream soups back when that was a thing.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:31 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:56 am
Posts: 531
Location: Virginia
JesBelle wrote:
Try putting your sauce in a squeeze bottle; then you can drizzle and splotch it with much more control. That's how restaurants used to put fancy beet purée swirls on cream soups back when that was a thing.

Actually I did! But my sauce was just a bit too thick, even after switching to another top where I'd previously cut the tip to make it larger. I think what I probably need to do is puree the sauce before I put it in the bottle. Either that, or just embrace the "splotch" look. :D

Emilie


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:33 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:50 pm
Posts: 2062
Channel your inner Jackson Pollock.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:14 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:56 am
Posts: 531
Location: Virginia
Cubangirl wrote:
Hi Emilie, did you use your regular pasta recipe that you so kindly shared? I would love the cannelloni recipe. Years ago, Olive Garden had a 3 cannelloni dish. The pasta was not thick like manicotti and one filling was meat (veal I think), the other was cheese, not sure what the third was or the sauce. I loved the meat and the cheese ones.

Found Giada's recipe and have copied to my LC. Is the pesto recipe in The Essentials of Italian Cooking?

I save all my bread ends (except for the healthy seedy ones), dry them naturally, pulverize them and freeze them. Use them along with Cuban Cracker crumbs and Matzo crumbs for my breaded Cuban steak.

TIA

Hi Alina. I meant to include the link to the Giada recipe on FN -- glad it popped up easily. And yes, the pesto was from that Hazen book. I'd never made my pesto with butter before, but I think it really does add a nice richness to it. And yes, the pasta was my standard recipe/technique. Although I've switched from the KA Pasta Blend I always used to a combo of A-P, Durum, and Semolina (2 parts A/P, 1 part durum, 1 part semolina). It gives the pasta a nice bite but is less expensive than buying the premade mix. Of course just a basic flour/water/eggs recipe works just fine too.

I'm glad to paste the cannelloni recipe below. I've been needing to retype it anyway. Just one caveat -- it won't be nearly as streamlined as the recipes you post from your LC. They are always so concise!

And that's a great idea about the bread crumbs. I always pulverize stale hearty white bread leftover from storebought loaves and freeze them. But they're very soft crumbs. I can see that they way you do it would yield a crumb with a little crunch, akin to the kind in the can. We're trying to stay off bread these days (son's getting married next month, don't want to waddle down the aisle.) But once I'm making it again I'll definitely try that.

Enjoy!

CANNELLONI

Pasta rolled around a filling of meat, onion and spinach, doubly sauced red and white. Takes time, but is worth it.

Pasta

10 lasagna noodles, cooked to al dente per directions in salted water. Drain and spread noodles side-by-side on flat area covered with foil. Cover with another layer of foil until ready to use. *see note at end

Filling

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 10-oz package chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry. *
1 lb. ground beef *
5 T. freshly grated parmesan
2 T. cream
2 eggs, beaten slightly
1/2 t. oregano
salt and pepper

Saute garlic and onion in oil until onions are soft. Add spinach to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until all moisture has boiled away and spinach shows tendency to stick to the pan. Turn into large bowl. Brown meat, breaking up all lumps.* Add to bowl with spinach, along with cheese, cream, eggs & oregano. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Sauce*
3-4 cups plain tomato sauce

Besciamella *

6 T. butter
6-7 T. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper

In sauce pan (or bowl if using microwave), melt butter and stir in flour. Add milk and cream and cook, stirring constantly, until well blended and sauce becomes quite thick. Remove from heat and add salt/pepper.

Assembling Cannelloni

Pour a thin film of tomato sauce over bottom of 9x13 dish. Cut lasagna noodles exactly in half with sharp knife. Place approx. 2 T. filling at one end of each lasagna half and roll up. Place in baking dish. Spread Besciamella over filled rolls. Then gently spoon tomato sauce over all (you don't want the sauces to combine.) Sprinkle with more parmesan and bake uncovered at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until bubbling.

______________________________

* Em's notes:

- For years I made this with boxed lasagna noodles and it was delicious. So while homemade pasta takes it to another level of tenderness, it's definitely not required.
- When making the filling, I turn the cooked meat and spinach mixture onto a large cutting board and use a rotating chopper to get it all consistently small. Then I add other ingredients. That's just personal preference though.
- I usually do half beef and half ground pork. Meatloaf mix can be used as well.
- I almost always double the recipe but keep the spinach at 10 ounces. I think it's too spinach-heavy otherwise but that's totally personal preference.
- The filling is much easier to pack tightly in the noodles if it sits in fridge for a few hours to congeal before being rolled.
- I never use plain tomato sauce. I make the CI Marinara Sauce (from 2006) in large quantities and either freeze or can it, so I always have homemade sauce for things like this.
- The recipe calls for making the besciamella on the stovetop; I do it in the microwave. If it's not thick enough, I add a bit more flour until it is. It needs to be really thick in order to stand on it's own underneath the top layer of red sauce. Sometimes I also add a few pinches of fresh grated nutmeg. (And don't forget to salt/pepper it at the end. That's slipped by me once or twice and it's noticeable.)
- The sauces and filling can be made a day or two in advance and assembled when needed. Also the dish can be assembled completely and baked the next day. If boxed noodles are used, the assembled dish freezes well for up to a month. However freezing isn't recommended with homemade noodles because they're so tender.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Ravioli + chocolate cake = heaven
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:21 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:56 am
Posts: 531
Location: Virginia
JesBelle wrote:
Channel your inner Jackson Pollock.

That's good advice. However being fairly OCD when it comes to things being even and proportional, I'd have to be in a serious Zen state to find him. In fact consumption of an alcoholic beverage at the time would likely be necessary. I'll definitely try that :D


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Template made by DEVPPL/ThatBigForum