The other night I had the urge to make some homemade ravioli. I didn’t feel like making a big production out of it, so I chose to use wanton wrappers in place of pasta made from scratch. I made the filling using up some ricotta that was about to go bad and some parley that refused to stay around for longer than two days in my fridge. I added some shredded fresh Parmesan (never, ever use that crap that comes from a container – never!), some S&P and one egg I whisked first.

I added roughly one teaspoon of filling to each sheet, wet the edges with my water dampened finger around the blob of filling to ensure a good seal when I cooked them in a pot of boiling water. The last thing you want is for your pasta sheets to seperate and leak your lovely filling out into the general public. It’s dirty and hard to clean up, and you end up draining the pot and starting the water all over again. Trust me. Been there, done that. Oy.

So, after I let the sheets tack together, resting on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap, for a few minutes, I went back and used my ravioli cutter to crinkle cut the edges. Don’t they look pretty and yummy?

After the assembly is complete, I placed them in the fridge as it, uncovered, to chill till the next night’s dinner time rolled around. (I made these at 10:00pm the night before, so I missed that night’s dinner hour.) If I had had time, I would have made these the night of given they only took me 30 minutes from start to finish for a batch of 12 raviolis. If you are planning to serve more than 5-6 per person, give yourself a full hour to make more.

Oh, and don’t forget to generously salt your pot of water when it starts to boil and before you add your pasta to cook. Let them cook for about five minutes for one side and another 2-3 on the other side (wanton sheets are denser than fresh pasta, therefore take longer to turn translucent, but worth the waiting time). Scoop each out using a slotted spoon, place them in a shallow bowl and top with your favourite heated up pasta sauce.

I need more fiber (according to a few women I know who have medical degrees) so I have taken to adding a half cup of split peas to my sauces now to bulk them up. It really adds a nice texture to your sauces. Try it.

I made some spinach pasta from scratch awhile ago, and since my brother and his girlfriend were heading down this weekend, I took the opportunity to thaw the dough out and make them some lovely linguine pasta.

It should be good and tasty for them, and I made enough for two people to enjoy two meals in total. I still trying to work out how to keep the pasta noodles from arcing as they dry, but I think I might be onto something by placing my good heavy cookie sheets over them for a few hours before letting them completely air dry flat as pancakes.

Will have to try this method again a few times in order to refine the best home based method.

Chicken Pasta Carbonara Recipe:

– Leftover or fresh Grilled Chicken (sliced or diced)
– Penne
– Procuitto (wafer thin Italian salami) or Pancetta (Italian smoked bacon)
– 1/2 C Cream (or milk)
– 1-2 tbsp Butter
– S&P to taste
– Parsley to taste (fresh or dried)
– 3 Egg yolks

Pre-grill the chicken (seasoning it however you like) and dice or sliced it up. Set aside. Cook the penne in salted water to just before al dente. Reserve 1/3 C of the starch water.

Cut up the procuitto or pancetta into small chunks. Heat up a dry non-stick skillet or heat up a metal skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil and add the chunks of pork to it. Cook for five minutes over med-low heat.

Drop the heat and add the milk, starch water, S&P, chicken and penne. Cover and cook for another five minutes.

Uncover and add butter and parsley, take the skillet off the heat and stir in egg yolks in vigorously till the white sauce thickens sufficiently to coat the penne thickly.

Plate and serve with freshly grated parm cheese over top with a small side salad or grilled veggies.