labour of love

despite being a tremendously loving person, sentimental and affectionate to the point of irritating my friends (just ask them), i don’t terribly much care for valentine’s day.  love IS all we need, yes.  but what we don’t need is an uninspired three-course prix fixe meal, or an overpriced bunch of flowers, just because society tells us we must.  to me, a sweet thought or token of affection means so much more on the other 364 days of the year.  a card for no reason just to brighten up your mailbox?  fab.  some fancy bling to celebrate national drink a martini day (june 19^th, in case anyone’s wondering)?  done.

at the end of the day, we all show our love in different ways.  when i was 16, it was through mixed tapes.  (there’s fleetwood mac on that bad boy, by the way…)  

(my kids wouldn't even know what this is)

yes, i am a consummate over-hugger.  and yes, we have already discussed my penchant for sloppy-yet-earnest drunken declarations of affection.  but truly, the way i mostly show people i love them is through food.  last weekend, for a mid-february-nothing-to-do-with-the-v-word-feast, i attempted stuffed pasta for the first time: ravioli with handmade ricotta and preserved lemon, and agnolotti dal plin.  truly a labour of love, i worked about 6 hours from start to finish on those faffy bad boys.  but with every crank of the pasta roller, every stir of the filling, every press of the ravioli cutter, i was saying “i love you.”  (or possibly “god, i’m hungry.”  both apply.)  just as 16 year-old jo did with mixed tapes, 37 year-old jo does with a meal that quite potentially took days to prep.  the food (like the music) might not be perfect, but it comes from the heart.  it is made with love.  and it says that i like you... just as you are.

Ravioli with Homemade Ricotta and Preserved Lemon

first, you want to make up a batch of pasta dough.  (here’s the recipe i use, along with rolling instructions, from a terribly old previous bloggy post…)

1 cup ricotta (store bought would work in a pinch, but i use smitten kitchen’s homemade version, which is easy (easier) than pie and SO much better)

1 tbsp preserved lemon, finely chopped

½ cup grated parmesan (pecorino would work just as well)

salt to taste

butter

handful of fresh mint, torn or chopped into small pieces

freshly-grated parmesan for sprinkling

mix first 4 ingredients together, set aside.

after you’ve rolled your pasta sheets out to the thinnest setting, cut the sheets into sections around 7-8” long.  (remember to only roll ¼ of the pasta out at a time, keeping the other sections tightly wrapped so they don’t dry out.)  lay sheets on a lightly-floured surface. 

place 1 tablespoon of filling about one third of the way up the strip, like so.

fold pasta over and mold over the filling, carefully pushing out any air bubbles as you go.

 use a fluted cutter to press out ravioli.  (i used a 3" one.)

cook in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes.

honestly, these would go with a number of different sauces beautifully.  i tossed them with some melted butter, scattered the fresh mint on top, then dusted with a little freshly grated parmesan and a few grinds of pepper. 

Agnolotti Dal Plin (loosely adapted from thomas mcnaughton's "flour + water")

1/2lb ground wild boar (or you can just use pork, but boar is leaner and has a much greater depth of flavour)

olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

splash of red wine

bunch of baby spinach, chopped

1 egg

¾ cup grated parmesan

¼ tsp sherry vinegar

1 tsp ground nutmeg

butter

2 cups sliced mushrooms of your choice (i used oyster and chanterelle)

handful of fresh sage leaves

freshly-grated parmesan for sprinkling

sauté meat over med-high heat until cooked through and slightly caramelised.  remove from pan.  sauté onion until also slightly caramelized, around 10 minutes.  add the splash of red wine, and cook until liquid has evaporated.  add spinach and cook 1 minute more.  remove vegetables to a bowl and let cool.

add boar to bowl of cooled veg, mix well.  add vinegar, egg, parmesan, nutmeg, and season with salt & pepper.  mix again.

now you can use up the rest of your pasta dough, which has been waiting oh-so patiently for you.  again, roll out to the thinnest setting, and lay sheets out on a lightly-floured surface.

place one tablespoon of the filling along the center of your pasta sheets, leaving around an inch or so between.  fold pasta over, leaving about a half-inch on the seal-side.

mold pasta over filling, pushing out air bubbles as you go.  use a fluted pastry cutter wheel to trim the sealed edge.

pinch between lumps of filling.

use pastry wheel to cut into individual agnolotti.

for the sauce, sauté mushrooms in butter until cooked through.  remove from pan and set aside.  melt more butter in the pan and add sage leaves.  let the leaves sizzle until they are slightly crisp.  add mushrooms back to the pan.

cook pasta in salted water for 3-4 minutes.  add to the pan and toss with sauce.  sprinkle with freshly-grated parmesan and a few grinds of black pepper.

eat with abandon.  feel the love.