Tag: pasta machine

Ratatouille ravioli

Yes, I made ravioli again! I was too happy last week to finally masterize the pasta machine and the ravioli mold. So far I was using them but it was never perfect, but now I know how to do and it works really well. And because we love ravioli there is no excuse not to make some! The problem was to find the appropriate filling. Last week I used asparagus, but this time I wanted to challenge myself with something new, something more summer than spring. There was not too many option at the farmers market, so I decided to go for ratatouille since there was everything I needed to make a real ratatouille the way my grand mother would.

So first prepare the ratatouille: onion, zucchini, eggplant, capiscum, tomato. All cut in small pieces, a bit of olive oil, garlic for those who like I don’t), salt, black pepper and a leaf of fragant laurel. Cook at low heat under cover for 2 to three hours, check and stir every 30min. Since we want to use this as a filling it needs to be significantly dry, so remove the cover if needed in the end. Cool when ready, ravioli filling cannot be used warm. Then prepare the dough with the classic recipe: 100g flour, 1egg, salt, olive oil. I actually used half flour half semolina. Then roll your dough until the level of thinness you like (I used 8 out of 9 on my pasta machine). Then flour well one side of the dough and ise the ravioli mold to fill them and shape them. 

Now prepare a big pan with water to boil the ravioli, and add one big branch of fresh rosemary for the broth. Keep the water boiling 3min before adding the ravioli. The smell of rosemary should be quite strong before adding them. Cook until they come back to float on the surface. Serve immediately, just with olive oil and pepper. The rosemary broth slightly perfumes the ravioli to bring a perfect balance of taste with the ratatouille filling.

Asparagus and herbs ravioli

My ravioli before being boiled
My ravioli before being boiled

It’s been weeks I wanted to make ravioli and I totally felt in love with the IG picture of Zucchero e zenzero‘s ricotta and asparagus ravioli just before the golden week. The events during and after the golden week being what they’ve been I didn’t had a chance to make ravioli until last night, and because I found some nice local asparagus I decided to go for asparagus ravioli. Since A. doesn’t eat cheese I skipped the ricotta and used only basil and parsley in the filling. Super easy and really delicious.

For the pasta dough as usual 100 of flour or semolina, one egg, a bit of olive oil and salt. I rolled the dough up to number 8 on my Atlas 150. Thinner for ravioli is quite risky since the way I do it, my filling is not totally smooth. For the filling I blanched the asparagus (I kept the heads for later), drained them well, then add parsley and basil, and grinded all together manually. Then I just prepared the ravioli, boiled them and serve with olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple and too delicious we want to eat ravioli every day!!!!!!

Oups! I made some ravioli again!

“Yahhari”  as we say in Japanese, I made some ravioli again! We love ravioli so much I could have some every day! This time spinach ricotta with some spinach in the pasta for a green finish. I just over-steamed some spinach and add some off the green leaves in the dough. For the filling chopped steamed spinaches with 1 large spoon of fresh ricotta, salt and pepper. Boiled and served with olive oil, salt and pepper, as simple can be! 

Just because I love them so much!!

Saturday ravioli, Sunday ravioli, this week end I’ve been cooking quite a lot of things but never so many ravioli. I must say that now I’m really well equipped to prepare some and it’s so much easier that’s a real pleasure!!! And since our little neighbor gave us a bag of shiitake, for a bag of natsumikan the filling was all decided! So I made jumbo ravioli with a dough 2/3 semolina 1/3 chesnut flour. Chopped the shiitake and cooked them in oil, I use fat pieces of pork, until golden, then prepared the ravioli. Served as usual with just olive oil. I prepared 6 per person of these giant things (about 4cmx4cm) and that was perfect for dinner!!

Butternut squash ravioli

This butternut squash was definitely a good source of inspiration for making new recipes, and the last thing I tried with it was ravioli, I really have a thing for ravioli. And that was awesome! For the pasta I used the same recipe as last time, and rolled it with my pasta machine. For the filling I just steamed a peeled piece of butternut squash, smash it and add salt and pepper, that’s it. I served it with just olive oil and gratted Parmegiano. The butternut squash sweetness add a perfect touch to the taste of the olive oil, and the simplicity of the preparation is just perfect to enjoy the taste of the butternut squash. It really surprised me how simple it was to make too!!

Basil and tomato ravioli

The basil in the garden seems to enjoy very much the rainy weather and it’s growing gigantic, so I went to cut some and was thinking about preparing a simple dish of pasta with basil and tomato. But then it turned out in a new ravioli recipe! 

I peeled a large tomato (you’ll actually need 2 or 3) and then cooked in a pan with a tiny bit of olive oil and some salt, until I obtained something close to condensed tomato. While the tomato was getting ready I prepared my usual dough recipe (100g of flour, 1 egg, a bit of salt and olive oil) and washed the basil and chopped it, and added it to the dough. This why I didn’t add water in the dough, the moist came mainly from the basil. I knead well and then pass it in my pasta machine untill it was thin enough (7 on my machine). I prepared two versions one with plain tomato for my husband, and one parmegiano-tomato for me.  I have some delicious vintage parmegiano brough from Italy, so I gratted some and mixed it with the tomato sauce. On the dough I lined a little quantity of filling, then lay an other layer of dough. And then made the ravioli. I am not very well equipped for making beautiful ravioli, so mine are pretty irregular. I just finally boiled them in salted and oiled water and served them with a little of olive oil. Super delicious. I was really surprised by how much we can appreciate the taste of the three ingredients: basil, tomato, parmegiano in my ravioli, a perfect balance that is usually not so easy to obtain with just tomato-basil pasta.

Let's talk cooking gears!

Knives, peeler and scissors

I have two kitchens: one in Tokyo and one in Ohara, and I found really
silly to duplicate all my cooking gears. So to solve the problem, except
for a very few things, I have always decided to cook with little
equipment and keep it really simple, skipping all the goodies are
supposed to simplify your life but in the end just lay in cupboards and
drawers for ever (avocado cutter, spaghetti spoon etc…). But still
there is a minimum required that I must have in both places.So let me
introduce you my best cooking allies.

Measuring gears

First of all cutting gears. I have
exactly the same set of knives in both kitchens. It helps me preventing
cuts and bad surprises. Since we have excellent knives in Japan I use
two types of Japanese knives for pretty much everything in the kitchen: a small bamboo knife
that you can find in supermarket and that cuts very well, perfect for
peeling fruits, preparing soft vegetables etc… and when in a hurry. And I have a larger Japanese
knife that is a real danger to me, perfect for preparing fish, meat, hard pumpkin, sweet potato… that I only use when needed and in no hurry. I love the feeling of the wooden handle and the nice metal blade, so I don’t use ceramic knives, never even tried.
I also use a lot scissors not only to chop herbs, but also for bacon, thinly cut meat, smoke salmon etc… I find it very handy, some say it’s the Korean way, I never realized whether Korean use their scissors for meat cutting…
Finally
I love vegetables peelers (this one from Muji), it’s so quick and it peels such a thin skin
that it’s almost as having naked fruits and veggies!
I have a mandolin in Ohara that I love and I’d love to have one in Tokyo too, but yet with limited space in the kitchen I prefer pass.

Next measuring gears. Similarly I have exactly the same two instruments and use nothing else when I use a measuring instrument (which is not often the case except for bread and some patisserie!). I have only an electronic scale (1g precision) and a Pyrex measuring cup. I avoid plastic as much as possible, I am no good friend of Tupperware. So my mixing bowls are either Pyrex or metal. So are also my spoons, spatula etc…

Mixing spoons and spatulas

As for mixing I use a lot wooden spoons (bought in Milano), bamboo spatula (from 100Y shop), bamboo long chopsticks (100Yen the whole set, from 100Y shop), metal whip, metal ladle, natural hair brush (from Mitsukoshi), wooden rolling pin (from 100Y shop too!)… and that’s all… I must admit that in Tokyo I have an electric whip, but I almost never use it! I like to whip manually, the energy it requires and the result. Also because I never cook for more than 8 people at a time…

About shapes… I have a series of 3 or 4 Pyrex pie dishes of different size and shapes, a tart dish, and a few flower cookie cutters to make pretty plates, pretty cookies… Recently I’ve started using stainless circles (you can see how much I use them on the pictures!) and I am pretty addicted to them. I love the clean and neat finish they give to a plate. I love also that you can use them to cook, bake or just prepare the plates. By precaution, I never use silicon shapes, nor non-stick pie dishes except for a set of small tart dishes with removable bottoms prevented from using any tools that could damage the anti-adhesive layer.
I don’t bake cookies too often, but since my best friend offered me this cookie stamp I’ve started to make cookies more often.
As for cooking I use only gaz and I also use the same utensils in both kitchens: the T-Fal home chef series with 2 fry-pan and 2 saucer-pan. I think I wouldn’t be able to cook without them anymore! I have a beautiful Staub in Ohara that I use when we have guests, for two it’s a little oversize.
The final element to my collection that I use often is a blender. I love smoothies and soups, so a blender is a must have for me. In Ohara I am lucky enough to have a Kitchen aid blender. In Tokyo I have a smaller, cheaper one that works very well too (though for smoothies the KA is really great!). I have no robot for bread making, no bread machines etc… only my hands and patience! Recently I got an Atlas 150 pasta machine (see previous post), and that I must say makes a difference in the quality of the pasta and their regularity.
And you what are your best cooking allies? What do you think I should add to my collection?

Shapes and fun things

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