Ravioli with Mushroom Cream Sauce

A few weeks ago, SnoWhite outdid herself by making homemade ravioli. This got me to thinking that I haven't made homemade pasta in a long while and that my pasta maker (which I got for wicked cheap from kijiji after learning how to make pasta by hand) was probably getting dusty. So, last week when I had a bit of free time I decided to make up a batch. We ate some that night with spaghetti sauce and then had it again when my sister was visiting. I love meals like this because I know how cheap it was for me to create it and how expensive it would be to get it in a restaurant. What would probably cost close to $20/per person cost me less than $10 and made about 10 servings (I still have some ravioli in the freezer for another time).

Ravioli with Mushroom Cream Sauce

I have listed separate recipes for the filling, the pasta and the sauce. Feel free to add/change whatever you'd like to the filling and serve the ravioli with a sauce of your choice. The combo I have here fit together very nicely.

Filling - modified from SnoWhite
1 cup spinach
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 slices bacon, crumbled
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (Mozza would be better but I was all out)
Salt
Pepper

1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and add garlic, mushrooms and onions. Sautee until veggies are nearly cooked. Add spinach and bacon. Cook until heated through.

2. In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Add mushroom mixture to the cheese and stir well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Dough - modified from my old pasta recipe
4 cup flour (2 whole wheat, 2 all purpose) - plus more for rolling
4 eggs
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup water

1. Take off rings.

2. Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs.

3. Mix with a fork until crumbly. Add water, a little at a time until soft dough forms. The dough should be somewhat sticky. Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, set up pasta maker if using. It is easy enough to make this without a pasta maker as well. Just follow SnoWhite's directions.

4. Cut dough into four chunks. I ended up breaking each of these chunks into two or three pieces to pass though the machine.

5. Lightly sprinkle pasta maker and dough with flour. Pass dough through the pasta maker on the widest setting, decreasing the width with each pass. I ended up flattening them until the #4 setting on my machine. Once you have the desired thickness, use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into rectangles. Add a spoonful of filling onto one side of each rectangle. Fold the empty side over and seal tightly with a fork.

6. Boil ravioli in salted water for 10-12 minutes, until they are floating. Drain and serve with sauce of your choice. Place extra ravioli in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes-1 hour and then place them in a freezer bag for future use.

This made more than 50 ravioli for me. We used about 15 the first time which gave us enough for supper and lunch for FD the next day. When I made the mushroom cream sauce, I cooked about 25, which was enough for three adults, one child and one extra lunch. I still have about 15 in the freezer which will give us another meal for two.

Mushroom Cream Sauce
1/4 cup butter
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 T flour
1 t salt
2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 T cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen peas

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter with garlic. Add mushrooms and onions until cooked.

2. Mix in flour, salt and Italian seasoning until smooth.

3. Gradually stir in wine and broth. Simmer, but do not boil. Add cream cheese and stir until melted and well incorporated. Reduce heat to low.

4. Whisk egg and milk together. Slowly add to pan, stirring constantly. Add peas and cook until heated.

Serve over spinach, mushroom and bacon ravioli or a pasta of your choice.