Makin' Ravioli? Or not?
I've been wanting to make homemade ravioli ever since it was a challenge on Master Chef. Can't beat the texture and taste of fresh pasta.
I don't have a pasta maker, but my Sis told me I could by fresh pasta sheets at a DeFalco's Italian Deli & Market. Great! I bought the pasta sheets and laid them out to start assembling the ravioli. Just as I turned my back to prep the filling, my "assistant" cut the pasta sheets into individual little squares! OMG! Breathe, OK, we'll make it work. Since I had leftover ground turkey and mushroom bolognese sauce I decided to do a spinach and cheese filling with ricotta and Italian 6-cheese blend, seasoned with garlic and a little cayenne pepper. Yum!
Here's where it all goes to heck: the pasta sheets were already cooked to al dente! I noticed they seemed rigid so I soaked them in warm water first and they did soften up, so I thought all was well. Far from it! As I attempted to crimp the edges, egg wash and all, the pasta just crumbled! It was horrifying. Now what?
To save this dish, I put 1 layer of pasta squares (lol) in the bottom of a baking dish then proceeded to dolop filling on each. I repeated until the pasta and filling were gone; got about 5 layers. I poured the bolognese over it all and baked it covered at 350º for 30 mins. Then covered the top with cheese and put it in at 425º until it was melted.
I gotta' say, this was quite definitely the best lasagna I've had! Mistakes WILL happen. Just roll with it and make it something spectacular!
