|spinach and ricotta ravioli in vodka sauce|

so, i made the mistake of not getting matt a gadget for father's day. i bought him the complete DVD collection of 'monty python', as well as the second season of 'kids in the hall'. but he ended up playing video games all day, anyway. i think he would have preferred some gadget-y gift.

while he played, i busied myself in the kitchen. someday, we should get a picture of me barefoot and cooking -which is much of the time, anyway. i had promised to make ravioli from scratch. the spinach came from our CSA veggies this week, so it served a dual purpose.



it was a messy endeavor, but worth it. again, the basil plants have served us well. the parsley is just starting to come into adulthood, too.



i think the next time i go to the trouble of making ravioli, i will stuff it with something a bit more exotic. maybe crab meat or salmon.

for the dough:
-3 cups flour
-3 extra large eggs
-3 tsp olive oil
-a touch of warm water, if needed

mix ingredients and knead until dough is elastic and smooth. the dough will take some time to come together, and will seem quite dry at first. let dough rest at least 1 hour. roll out (i used the kitchenaid pasta attachments) to desired thickness. i felt that the "6" setting was best, as it yielded a dough you could really bite into. i have seen recommendations for using the thinnest setting "8" and tried it, but it was a bit too flimsy for my taste.

for the filling:
-1 cup ricotta cheese
-1 extra large egg
-1 large bunch spinach
-1 pinch nutmeg
-zest from 1/2 lemon
-1 tsp sugar
-3 tbs flour

cook spinach in boiling water about 3 min, until wilted. squeeze dry and chop finely. mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, and chill in fridge until ready to use.

the photo shows these cute little ravioli cutters that matt bought me from williams sonoma. don't be fooled.... they made perfectly uniform ravioli, but were a little difficult to get the hang of. after the first string of ravioli, i switched to a simple pastry wheel, which was much, much faster, and yielded similar results (after a little practice). i am sure a pizza wheel would work just as well -you would just get a flat edge instead of a decorative one.

the recipe made about 55 ravioli. the limiting factor was the filling, but leftover dough can be used for other pasta (fettucini, etc). again, we didn't have the patience to cut open one of the ravioli for a picture. maybe some other day.