Sunday, October 10, 2010

Homemade Mushroom Ravioli in a Mushroom Broth

I think if there is one food that you are going to make from scratch in the kitchen that's flavor and texture will far exceed that of a store bought food, it's going to be pasta. Some of you might think I'm nuts here, but fresh made pasta is absolutely wonderful tasting. There is a delicacy to it that no factory made pasta can mimic and unless you shop at a gourmet grocer, you'll likely not be able to enjoy this without making it yourself.
Last week I shared my post for hosting an elegant dinner party and one of the dishes I made for my guests was homemade ravioli in mushroom broth. The broth is filled with flavors of fall and the delicate ravioli are a perfect accompaniment.  This seemed like the ideal dish to use for this challenge, especially because I've been wanting to share how to make homemade pasta.





Choosing Your Flour
Pasta is the one place where I always break my rule of trying to avoid refined ingredients. You can make pasta with whole wheat flour, however it often lends too much of its own flavor, overwhelming the delicate flavors you may have accompanying the pasta. Instead I use organic, unbleached, white flour. Many authentic Italian pasta recipes will call for flour known as 00, or doppio zero. I have yet to find it anywhere that I shop, which is why I use white flour. Another flour you'll see is semolina pasta flour. Yes, machine made pasta is made using this flour and it's perfect for this form of processing, however, if you try to use this flour (which I have) you'll probably find yourself becoming very frustrated with your dough. Semolina flour is rarely ground fine enough to make it easy to work with, instead it is granular in texture versus the talcum-soft white of 00 flour and comes no where close to the fineness of white flour.

Methods
There are two ways to approach making your own pasta; by machine or by using a rolling pin. I use a pasta machine that I hand crank. The steps I share below will also use this method. I love using a pasta machine – it's easy to use once you get your dough to the right consistency and always gives you a wonderful product in the end. I've found that many people already have pasta machines in their kitchen, just perhaps back in a corner of a cabinet collecting dust from non use!

The soup below can easily be doubled and I'd actually recommend doing so and freezing the broth and ravioli for use on a day when you want a wonderful homemade dish, but don't necessarily want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen making it. To do this, simply freeze the broth after it's made and freeze the ravioli on a cookie sheet. Once frozen you don't need to thaw the ravioli, simply cook them in boiling water. They will take just a bit longer to cook. Also, don't discard the leftover mushrooms after making the broth. Stick them in the fridge and save them for breakfast. Slice the mushrooms up in the morning and saute them in a couple tablespoons of butter. Beat together some eggs and salt and then toss in the mushrooms to create some delicious scrambled eggs. You can also use any leftover ravioli filling in the eggs too. A wonderful treat for a Saturday or Sunday morning!





























You can download these instructions as a PDF to print and add to your recipe collection by clicking here: Homemade Mushroom Ravioli in a Mushroom Broth.




38 comments:

  1. You did great...it looks amazing, Loved the pictures so earthy. Good luck in this round. Have a great week.

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  2. Love it!!! I made pasta too. It is so satisfying and rewarding, isn't it???

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  3. I was so happy to see that you made it to the next round. You will have my vote, again and again! I've never attempted making ravioli before, but after seeing your post, I'm truly inspired! Especially with such a lovely mushroom broth to accompany. Delicious!

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  4. Hello

    Good Day, i have been exploring the internet right now
    trying to find a educational and informative and i found
    your blog and the information you share is very good i just
    wanted you to know that i really enjoyed you contents i'll
    be back soon for more

    -Kathy

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  5. This in honestly one of the best articles on pasta making I have ever seen. It's great to take a peak inside your kitchen and see what you do. One tip that works for me - To bring in the flour from the sides with a fork after you've made a well, switch to a dough scraper when the quantity gets larger. I find it makes the dough really easy to control. Hope this is helpful. You'll get my vote - good luck.

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  6. beautiful tutorial! homemade pasta is one of my favorite things. this dish looks fabulous! best of luck - you have my vote!

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  7. OK A) your tutorial is AMAZING and so perfectly done, and B) I could not agree more. Homemade pasta is unmistakably better than dried!! Congrats, you have my vote!

    Whit @ Amuse Bouche

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  8. What a perfect post- the pictures, the food, and the instructions are all great!! You have my vote!!

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  9. Thank you Anna, Amelia, Monet, Kathy, Sally, Brie, Whitney and Amy for your kind comments. It's more than encouraging to hear the positive thoughts!

    Good luck to those of you still in PFB. Will be checking out your posts later today, if I haven't already!

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  10. Excellent tutorial! I voted for you!

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  11. Absolutely wonderful descriptions and the photography is mouth-watering!

    Exquisite job.

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  12. Fantastic post. I am voting for it. There I just did! GREG

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  13. What a beautifully laid out post - loved the presentation! Your pasta looks amazing...yum! Hope to join you in the next round :)

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  14. Your pictures look fantastic, and the dish looks super tasty! Great job! Good luck in round 4!

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  15. I'm envious of your mushrooms!!! You have my vote :)

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  16. Mmmmm...I'm all over this. Lovely tutorial!

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  17. Lovely post! Love your step by step photos. Voted!

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  18. Very nice tutorial. It makes me want to go to the kitchen right now and try my hand at pasta! I don't have a machine, but maybe I'll give this a try rolled thin to use in chicken noodle soup! Off to vote!

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  19. What perfect descriptions, wonderful work. Looks delicious!

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  20. Therese, I'm so glad you posted this and I'm in complete agreement with you about the white flour. I tried my hand at whole wheat ravioli and it just wasn't right. Some things are more delicate and lend to white flour. All in moderation ;) Beautiful presentation!! Best wishes my friend!!

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  21. What a lovely blog! I found this through the FB project and I'm so glad I did. I've never tried my own pasta but your post convinced me to try. You've got a red heart from me :-)

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  22. Oh my goodness, very elegantly done! This just makes me want to make pasta, which is as it should be.

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  23. Gorgeous post! And I don't think you're crazy at all - fresh pasta is definitely something special. Good luck this round!

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  24. I love that you did something from the luxury dinner party for the step-by-step tute. This has a beautiful japanese flair to it, I definitely want to try it.

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  25. Your post is beautiful. You get my vote!

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  26. Beautiful photographs! A recipe that I'll have to try, for sure. You've got my vote!

    Just one thing...I clicked on the link to the pdf file and got a blank page. Not sure if it was me or not. Just thought I'd let you know about that.

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  27. Thank you all for the wonderful comments and thank you for the votes too!!!

    CherylK, the pdf is working on my end. I'll have to check with my husband, who put the pdf together, to see if certain computers might have a problem opening it. Thank you for letting me know. :-)

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  28. Your artist's eye has come through in this tutorial. Beautiful pics to go with this seasonal dish. This is my first visit to your blog; can't wait to look around.

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  29. Oh my! This dish is bursting with mushroom flavour! Thanks for sharing, I love the step by step photos!
    -Brittany

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  30. I want to try this so badly after reading this post. The combination of earthy and fragrant flavors sounds incredible. Also, there's cheese in it. Good luck this week, definitely voting for this one.

    Lick My Spoon

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  31. Just discovered your blog and I love it! This was a great entry and i love the way you formatted your steps. Good luck with this round and I really hope to see you in the next one! :)

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  32. Another beautifully put together post, very pleasing to the eye, just what a great post should be! It looks delicious too...
    Sending another vote your way, hoping we both make it through!

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  33. Ooo, that looks SO delicious! And I love your pretty instructions. Will vote for you :)

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  34. I would love this for dinner tonight. Happy to give my vote! Good luck!
    LL

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  35. I love to make homemade ravioli, It is the greatest dish ever. I have trying to find sauces that would go well with raviolis, the classics are hazelnut butter and tomato sauce.

    Your mushroom broth is a superb idea. I shall try it out! Thanks for sharing. Good luck for Round 5!

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  36. Just beautiful. I can't think of anything better on a cold fall day than ravioli in mushroom broth...yumm!

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