Ricotta & spinach ravioli

Hola amigos! Where has the time gone? Well, for a start, there was a giant Mexican Fiesta for the Bean's birthday (complete with a Mexican Sombrero cake). And then, following that, a bout of what can only be described as Mexican Fiesta sickness (highly distinguishable from the Mexican Swine Flu, as there were no pigs at the Fiesta). I digress. The point being that I'm back in action and ready to rumble. And what better way to rumble than with that spinach and ricotta mix you've had sitting in your freezer? Ahhh yes. That one. And what to do with it? Ah-hah! That's where this post comes in handy.

Two recipes for your eating pleasure. One a little fiddly, the other not so much. Both highly satisfactory. Especially when one is done and dusted and the other has been earmarked for a late night snack.

spinach & ricotta ravioli

ingredients:

1x spinach & ricotta mix
1x fresh pasta made without lemon rind

method:

1. Make your spinach & ricotta mix (alternatively, pull it out of the freezer to defrost).

2. Then, make your pasta (alternatively, pull it out of the freezer to defrost. Did I mention you can freeze your pasta dough for up to three weeks and then let it thaw & roll it out as needed? I didn't? How terrible of me. Well, you can. And oh (OH!) what a difference that makes to your ease-of-pasta-making-days.)

3. You want to be rolling your pasta out into long, thin sheets. Rectangles preferably. Circles, whilst nice to look at, make this recipe a little harder to do.

blobbing the mix on the pasta

4. Now cut your pasta so you have an even number of thin rectangles with a 7cm width. Dollop your spinach & ricotta mix in nice little blobs along one of the rectangles, spacing it well to allow for the ravioli edges.

folding the second sheet over

5. One row done? Grab another rectangle and place it over the one you've just blobbed with your mix. Now, starting from one end of the rectangle, press down around each blob with your fingers to seal it in between the two sheets of pasta. If you run out of pasta by the end of the rectangle, just scrape off the blobs you've done and use them in the next round of rectangles.

6. Cut in between each blob and *ta-daaaaa* you have your ravioli. Now if you want to be fancy (and we have well established that I am not fancy) you can make your rectangles thicker and cut the ravioli out with a round cookie cutter for pretty shapes. Or with a shaped cookie cutter for a themed (albeit somewhat confusing) meal.

cooked & drizzled in olive oil

7. Cook them in a pot of salted boiling water in batches. They're done when they float to the top. Sprinkle with olive oil & serve with a sauce of your choice.

(I served them with a quick saute of diced tomato, baby spinach & garlic. Bliss!)

quick & easy spinach & ricotta pastries

These are, in all honesty, almost too easy to warrant a recipe. But I'll stick one in here anyway. I've tried them with both puff and shortcrust pastry and far prefer the light, airy nature the puff pastry gives them. Feel free to try both & let me know what you prefer.

ingredients:

1x spinach & ricotta mix
1kg packet of frozen puff pastry
milk

method:

1. Cut your puff pastry into quarters with a knife.

2. Let it thaw a little bit so it is malleable (without being melted).

3. Dump a heaped spoonful of the mix in the centre of each pastry square & fold over into a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork so you end up with a pretty pattern once it is cooked.

making the pastries

4. Get a pastry brush and dunk it in the milk. Brush liberally over the top of your completed pastry triangles.

5. Bake in a 150C oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is lovely and golden and brown.

6. Eat immediately. Or later. But it tastes better hot from the oven. But don't burn yourself. You won't be able to taste anything for a while that way. And that would be terrible. Wouldn't it?

spinach & ricotta pastries