I found myself with a lot of leftovers this week. I had made an eggplant/zucchini dish with tomato sauce which was a hit. But funny enough not such a hit that my family wanted to pull it from the fridge and eat it again and again throughout the week. So I decided to get creative as I hate wasting food.
Above you will find my leftovers and next to it some pasta dough I whipped up in my food processor. Of course you can use store bought sheets of pasta but it's so easy to make I did it myself.
HOMEMADE PASTA:
2 cups of 00 flour
2 organic pasture raised eggs
salt/pepper
1-2 tablespoons water
Add first 4 ingredients into your food processor. Blitz them for 30 seconds until combined. Add water until the dough starts to come together. Scrape out the dough onto a flat surface which has been sprinkled with some flour and knead the dough until it forms a nice ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
FOR THE FILLING:
If you have a Vitamix, use it. It makes a perfectly smooth paste. If not, a good blender will do the trick. Now for the filling, I used leftovers and would suggest you do the same. If you have any veggie mix that is sitting around, put it into your blender, add a little cheese if you have some or maybe ricotta to soften the texture. You can't go wrong on a filling. You could even put some chicken in there for added protein. The only trick is to make sure it has the consistence of thick baby food.
Blitz the leftovers until smooth and pour it into a mixing bowl. Taste for seasoning. If it needs a little salt, add salt now and mix it well. Then grab a piping bag if you have one. If not, not to worry, we can get creative. If you don't have a piping bag, take a ziplock bag, pour a bit of the mixture in it, seal it and put it aside. If you do have a piping bag, add a round tip, pour some of the mixture and set aside (do not cut the end yet, the mixture will just ooze out).
Now it's time to roll out the dough.
Cut a section of your dough and roll it out into a 4-5 inch wide strip. If you have a pasta machine, use it. As it will cut on time and energy. The strip can be as long as you want but it must be 4-5 inches wide.
Cut the end of your bag, either the piping bag or your ziplock (for the ziplock, about 1/4 inch). Pipe quarter size dollups along the top of your pasta strip. Then cut the strip length wise so you have two strips, one with the dollups and one without. Using your fingers and some water, lightly dampen the pasta dough around the dollups. Then gently place the second strip on top and press in between the mounds.
Using your fingers, gently press around each mound to seal the dough. Then using a knife, cut in between each mound. Now, because I'm a bit OCD, I cut all sides so I get a perfect square, but you don't have to.
Using a fork, press around the edge of each ravioli to make sure they are truly sealed. And it looks pretty.
Repeat until you have used up either all your pasta dough or all your filling. I placed mine on a cookie sheet to freeze so I can use them for a mid-week quick dinner but feel free to cook them immediately.
To do so, boil a pot of water and add salt. Gently place the ravioli in the boiling water and cook for about 5-6 minutes. Check a piece to make sure it's al dente. Pour into a strainer. Serve with a little butter and parmesan cheese or your favorite sauce.