Homemade Fennel Squash Ravioli with Creamy Madagascar Green Peppercorn Sauce

Another one of my pasta favourite are ravioli. They can be served as a main dish, but here I used them to accompany my Italian herb oven roast beef.

All you need to make ravioli is a basic pasta dough and the pasta machine, but you do not have one, a good rolling pin should work to get a thin dough (and it is excellent exercise too!). To cut the ravioli out into squares, I used a knife, but a cookie cutter also works for fancier designs - I just wanted mine to be as big as my appetite!

From then on, the only thing you need to decide is the filling. The sweet licorice taste of the fennel complements with the smooth and creamy squash, a perfect combination for my whole wheat ravioli. The creamy Madagascar peppercorn sauce is just hot enough to give a kick to this pasta dish.

Ingredients for 3 generous servings:

1/3 basic pasta dough using whole wheat flour

Ingredients for about 2 cups of fennel and squash filling:

1 small acorn squash

1 small fennel bulb

1 small onion

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup romano cheese

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Green peppercorn sauce:

½ cup Madagascar green peppercorn (I actually found some at the Italian store, but a gourmet food store should do!)

1 small onion

½ cup cream cheese

1 cup dry white wine

1 lime

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare the basic pasta dough.

2. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

4. Cut the acorn squash into two and remove the seeds.

5. Place cut-side down in a baking dish, add 1 inch of water and bake for 1hr.

6. In the meantime, finely chop onion and fennel bulb, grate the cheese.

7. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

8. Stir fry the onion and the fennel until soft.

9. Add the wine and let simmer for 5 mins until all liquid is evaporated.

10. Once the squash is soft, let cool slightly and scoop into the fennel.

11. Stir in the cheese, remove from heat and season to taste.

12. Let cool to room temperature.

13. Roll the pasta dough as thin as possible and cut into 3 in. x 6 in. rectangles.

14. For each ravioli, spoon some filling on one half of the rectangle, leaving a ¼ inch border along each side. NB: The filling should be cool and hold together to prevent any tearing of the dough.

15. Moisten the border with cold water using a brush or your finger.

16. Fold the rectangle over to cover the filling, pressing the borders together using a fork.

17. Place each ravioli side by side on a floured surface, making sure not to overlap them.

18. Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water for 3 mins.

19. Before serving, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan, over medium-high heat to prepare the sauce.

20. Stir in the onion until translucent then the cream cheese.

21. After 1 min stir in the wine to loosen the cheese and reduce until creamy.

22. Drain and add the peppercorns.

23. Season and reduce the heat just to let the sauce warm to a low simmer.

24. Serve immediately.

Homemade Cremini Ricotta Cannelloni with Sweet Basil and Tomato Sauce

(click on the picture for details)

If you need a change from vegetarian lasagna, go for these whole wheat cannelloni. Instead of being layered with the pasta, cremini mushrooms and ricotta cheese make a substantial filling for these square pasta crepes. The sweet fragrance of purple basil infuses not only this pasta dish but also your kitchen, making it warm and inviting. Perfect comfort food after shoveling your snowy sidewalks!

Ingredients for 3 generous servings:

1/3 basic pasta dough using whole wheat flour

Cremini and ricotta filling for 6 cannelloni:

1 cup cremini mushrooms

1 small onion

1 tomato

1 cup fresh purple basil

½ cup ricotta cheese

½ cup dry white wine

Sweet basil tomato sauce:

6 anchovy filets

1 16-ounce tomato can

1 carrot

2 celery stalks

1 small onion

½ bunch fresh purple basil

1 cup romano cheese

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare the basic pasta dough.

2. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.

3. Chop onion, mushrooms, tomato and basil.

4. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

5. Stir fry the onion and the mushrooms until soft.

6. Add the tomato and the purple basil. Let wilt for 2 mins.

4. Add the wine and the cheese and let simmer for 5 mins until all liquid is evaporated. Season to taste.

8. Chop onion, carrot and celery for the tomato sauce.

9. In a saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.

10. Stir in the onion until translucent then add anchovies, carrot and celery.

11. When the vegetables are soft, add the canned tomatoes.

12. Slightly mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon to liberate the juice.

13. Add the purple basil to the pan and season to taste.

14. Cover, reduce the heat to medium and let simmer until serving.

15. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

16. Roll the pasta dough and cut into 4 inch squares.

17. Cook the pasta squares in boiling salted water for 3 mins.

18. Plunge the squares into cold water and drain on paper towel.

19. Spoon some filling on the first third of each square and roll.

20. Place the rolls in a baking pan, with seams underneath.

21. Cover the rolls with the tomato sauce and freshly grated cheese.

22. Bake for 20 mins and serve immediately.

My New Favourite Kitchen Gadget and Basic Homemade Pasta

(click on the picture for details)

We finally broke down and decided to get a pasta machine! Nothing to break the bank, just a simple, stainless steel pasta machine with a hand-crank! Just like the one my mum had! One set of rollers to make the thinnest sheets of dough ever and one set of cutters for spaghetti and tagliatelle!

Fresh pasta are dead easy to make, all you need is eggs, flour and water. If everyone knew how cheap and easy they are, they would not stop buying the overpriced, ready-made pasta from the grocery store. Once the dough is ready, you can decide on shape you want to give to your pasta!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

2 cups flour, whole wheat or all purpose

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.

2. Form a well in the flour.

3. Break the eggs and add the olive oil into the well.

4. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients using a fork to form dough.

5. Knead to form a ball. (Note: Add the water if the dough is too dry)

6. Let rest for 1 hr at room temperature before rolling.

Homemade Gnocchi

My first gnocchi take me back to my first year of college, my first year away from home. I was a real geek or a lazy cook then. Just like my fellow students, all I wanted was something quick and easy for supper, so that I could go back to my books ASAP.

Sure enough, I found them in the fresh pasta section of the local Franprix: all I had to do was get a saucepan of salty water boiling, drop the gnocchi in and wait for them to float. All that in less then 5 mins!!! Quicker than spaghetti or tagliatelle, full of creamy goodness!

I rediscovered the potato dumplings at our favourite Italian shop last year and I finally decided to take up the challenge and make my own with Adam’s potatoes. Nothing compares to homemade gnocchi! The keys to light and fluffy gnocchi are sieving, instead of mashing, the potatoes and adding as little flour as possible.

To enjoy with a sprinkle of parmegian or a spicy tomato sauce! Yum!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 pound baking potatoes

½ to ¾ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup romano cheese

1 large egg

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Wash and prickle the potatoes with a fork.

3. Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake for about 1 hr, until tender. You can also boil the potatoes but you will loose the flavours in the water.

4. When the potatoes are soft, peel their skin off.

5. Press the hot potatoes through a sieve using a spoon.6. Spread the fluffy potato strands onto a floured board.

7. Let cool to room temperature.

8. Sprinkle the flour and the cheese on the potatoes.

9. Make a well in the middle. 10. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the nutmeg. Season to taste.

11. Pour the egg mixture into the well.

12. Lightly knead the potato and egg mixture for 1-2 mins to form a ball.

13. Divide the ball into six smaller balls with floured hands.

14. On a floured board, roll each ball into a one-inch thick rope.

15. Cut the ropes into one inch segments and shape the gnocchi with a fork.

16. To cook, heat some salted water to aboil and drop the gnocchi into the water. The gnocchi is ready to serve when they reappear at the surface. You can also keep the gnocchi on floured parchment paper until you are ready cook them.