We’re still cooking and eating – it’s just that there hasn’t been a lot that has been truly remarkable, lately. Looking back over the archives, how many times can I write about a particular dish?
So… when Victor said he wanted to make a shrimp ravioli – based upon a lobster ravioli he had seen made – my ears and tying fingers perked up!
My second thought – the first just being drool – was we would need a loaf of bread for this. Victor is the pasta-maker. I’m the bread-baker. Teamwork!
He used his basic pasta dough from Alon Shaya:
Pasta Dough
- 1 1/4 cup 00 flour
- 1/2 cup semolina
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp olive oil
Mix flours. make a well and add the eggs, egg yolks, and oil. Slowly mix in the flour and knead until smooth. Let rest 30 minutes before rolling to desired shape.
and then made a simple filling of:
- shrimp
- ricotta
- egg
- parmigiano reggiano
- lemon zest and juice
- salt & pepper
And, finally, a sauce of
- butter
- sage
- lemon
Very simple – and ridiculously flavorful.
The trick in making the ravioli is after rolling out the dough, brush half of it lengthwise with an egg wash. Place the filling in dollops along the unbrushed side, fold over, press. and cut. It’s so much easier than trying to brush edges and they seal so much better – not a single one leaked!
Since I knew the night before that we were having the ravioli, I decided on a sourdough bread, using our friend, Susan’s sourdough starter.
I didn’t follow a specific recipe – it was more just some basic technique. And even that was streamlined.
I used bread flour and Anson Mills Rustic Red Fife Bread Flour at about a 50/50 ratio. The starter was all basic bread flour.
It had a really nice, chewy crust and a really delicate crumb.
It made a pretty large loaf, so half went into the freezer.
It really was the perfect dinner.