Decadence !

At least once a week have a crazy scratch made culinary masterpiece! Today it was homemade ravioli, with a mushroom, pancetta, dry cheddar, filling. I also made two rosemary, garlic focattia loaves  to go with it.  One for us and one for a dear friend!

I wish this were a blog imparting great recipes, and techniques, but unfortunately I never use recipes. I have been “faking it” long enough that I just rely on instinct. If you should happen to see something on here that you would like to reproduce just drop me a line and I am sure I can set you in the right direction.

The pasta was 50/50 semolina and AP flour, 3 eggs, and some salt…. I think that was it! The important step is letting it rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two in order for the gluten to develop.

The filling was made the night before using butter, shallots, garlic, a BUNCH of mushrooms, and at the last minute some amazing dry white cheddar.

After the pasta dough came out of the fridge, I cut it in half and rolled out each half about as thin as a dime. Then square off the ends, slice all the way down the center, and make a cut every two inches or so making several squares. One egg and a dash of water makes the egg wash that will be your “glue” to hold the halves together.

One small dollop of the filling then “glue” the edges, and set aside til your salted water is at a rolling boil. Boil your ravioli for 6-8 minutes. Sauce with whatever makes you smile!  

The focaccia is a bit harder to explain! Like I have said in earlier posts, I have harvested brewer’s yeast from an amazing beer and that is what I use instead of store bought yeast. I am NOT a baker by anyone’s definition, but I like making bread. I know the fundamentals, and from there I improvise everything else. I use a cup or two of my starter, then add some flour, salt, and maybe some water. From there I let it double in size, punch it down, and form it. I let it double again then bake it at 450 til it looks done.

Like my daughter says, “if it looks good, eat it!” and that looks GOOD!