I know what you’re thinking. Cauliflower Ravioli! I’ve already heard from some of you that know me, complaining because you want to see those traditional recipes that you have tasted. I won’t disappoint you. I will get to them eventually. You want to know how I make pesto and red sauce and what I put in my lasagna and my seafood pasta dishes. And, if I’m going to be posting about ravioli, you want the “real thing” with ricotta cheese.
I love those dishes too, but I also like to travel down new roads, try new things and in the same fashion that I take my paints and textures and mix them up to see what kind of wall finish I can come up with, there is something inside of me that has to try new ingredients or try old ingredients in a new way. And, just like my wall samples, some are winners and some are immediately destroyed. I hope this is a winner.
This desire to create led me to become interested in the Royal Foodie Joust, a food contest hosted by t he Left-Over Queen. They give you the ingredients to work with and then you make a dish and submit it. However, I was not so excited once I saw the required ingredients, mushrooms, cauliflower and noodle.
I didn’t run out and purchase ingredients. Oh no, I just happened to have some green cauliflower (crossed with broccoli) on hand. Frankly, I don’t even know if it qualifies because it’s only probably 3/4 cauliflower, but it looks and tastes just like cauliflower (although slightly green). I thought, if I can’t think of anything in five minutes, I’ll abandon this idea because after all, they’re not really my favorite mix of ingredients, and then….
I thought if I could get the cauliflower mixture to taste as good as the Asian spring rolls get cabbage to taste, I’m on to something. I cooked and finely chopped the cauliflower, added fresh pecorino romano cheese with sea salt and walnut oil. The mixture had to taste good by itself, and it did. In fact, I could mix this with some rice or orzo and stop here.
I made my pasta dough as usual, and made rather large ravioli. I followed the wintery, savory, salty flavors, chopping fresh sage and mushrooms very fine, with a mezzaluna, and sauteing in butter with a touch of walnut oil and a sprinkling of red chile pepper. The ravioli were then placed over the mushrooms, and treated to a small smattering of browned butter, flavored with sage and bit of walnut oil, and a finishing salt, (grey sea salt in this case).
As Spinach Tiger, I cannot serve a brown or beige dish, and added for color an extra burst of vegetable goodness.. a few roasted baby sunburst squash. It all works together. You can taste the cauliflower in the ravioli, and the mushrooms really are an integral part of the dish. In other words, I was a bit concerned that I was just throwing these items together because they are the chosen ingredients. But when you put all of it on a fork and eat it all together, it creates a new layering of flavors I haven’t had before.
It’s good to try new things. What new thing have you tried lately?
Post Edit: I won this contest in two categories, best photo and best overall. Thank you for voting for me.
Recipe
Pasta for Ravioli (see below)
2 cups Baby Portobello Mushrooms
10 sage leaves (give or take)
1 1/2 cup cauliflower (once cooked and shredded)
1/3 cup fresh coarsely grated pecorino romano cheese
Walnut oil: 2 tablespoon for filling, 1 tablespoons for mushrooms, 1 teaspoon for browned butter
Dash of red chili pepper
Sea Salt
White Pepper
Pasta
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
white pepper
Put mound of flour on clean counter, break in eggs, one at a time, using a fork to incorporate. Then use your hands to bring it together. Add more flour as necessary. This is usually just right for me. Rest dough 30 minutes.
Once rested, roll out with rolling pin in rectangle, Cut length wise and take through pasta machine, up to number 7, starting with number 2 and increasing every 1 or 2 numbers, 2, 4, 6, 7.
I use a cookie cutter to cut my ravioli.
Filling
Cook cauliflower, steam or boil until soft. Discard all stem or fibrous parts.
Shred/mash with fork very fine.
Mix with cheese, walnut oil, sea salt and white pepper
Mushroom Ragú
2 cups brushed, mushrooms, finely chopped
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
dash of red chili pepper
Note: I chop mushrooms and sage at same time using a mezzaluna
Saute in butter with a touch of walnut oil.
Browned Butter
Melt 2 T butter in medium heat pan with 4-5 sage leaves.
Add walnut oil, allow to brown.
Roasted Baby Sunburst Squash
Rub with olive oil and roast at 400 for about 10 minutes.
Assemble
Put mushroom ragu on plate, top with ravioli, garnish with squash.
Drizzle browned butter. (You don’t really need a lot). Another option is a drizzle of walnut oil. It’s just as good.
Note: I did my best to immediately recall the measurements such as how much sage, etc. This is a dish of taste as you go. You may like MORE sage or LESS cheese.
I had some pasta left over. My measurements for mushroom ragu are for two servings, 3 large or 6 smaller ravioli each.
Key Words: Spinach Tiger, Cauliflower Ravioli, Portobello Mushrooms, Royal Foodie Joust
Spinach Tiger Entry 13 – Cauliflower Ravioli with Baby Portobello Mushroom Ragu
All original content copyright © 2008 Angela Roberts, All Rights Reserved
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