Saffron Ravioli With Wild Mushrooms And Cashew Cheese Recipes

SAFFRON RAVIOLI WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND CASHEW CHEESE

Steps:

• To make the ravioli filling: the day before using, put the cashews in a bowl and add enough cold water to cover them. Cover and let soak overnight in the refrigerator. Do the same for the cashews you will use to make the Cashew Creme Fraiche (see recipe below).
• In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, shallots and leek and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until their liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside to cool.
• Drain the liquid from the cashews and rinse under cool water. Put the cashews, the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until smooth. Add the mushroom mixture and pulse a few times, until the mushrooms are incorporated.
• To make the pasta: soak the saffron in the water for about 30 minutes. Put the flours, egg replacer, saffron-infused water and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the palm oil and mix well. The dough should be smooth and not stick to your fingers.
• Press the dough into a rectangle and roll it, a small section at a time, through a pasta machine. You may have to repeat several times to reach the desired thickness of approximately 1/8 inch. Sprinkle the surface with a small amount of cornmeal or semolina flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Cut the pasta sheets into 2-inch rounds or squares.
• To assemble the ravioli, put the pasta pieces on a floured surface. Place a teaspoonful of filling in the center of each square, brush the edges of the dough with a bit of water, top with another piece of pasta, and press the edges with your fingers to seal, and then crimp with a fork. Spray the ravioli with canola oil cooking spray on one side, then flip them over and spray the other side. (If you don't have cooking spray, brush both sides lightly with olive oil.)
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the ravioli until just tender, about 2 minutes.
• To serve, spoon tomato sauce into shallow bowls. Top with alternating layers of ravioli and Cashew Crème Fraîche. Scatter a bit of parsley over the sauce, top with a spoonful of capers and serve at once.
• Drain the presoaked cashews, rinse under cold water and drain again.
• Transfer to a blender. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, water and salt and process until smooth. The mixture will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the butternut squash on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, and toss with your hands until evenly coated. Bake the squash for 45 minutes.
• Let cool, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the nutmeg and sage and mash until smooth. Season with salt to taste. Use as an alternative filling for ravioli, following the instructions above.

THREE-CHEESE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine goat cheese, blue cheese, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, the potato and two eggs. Mix well and add 2 tablespoons each of chervil and chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and refrigerate.
• Dust a work surface with semolina flour and roll out half the pasta dough by hand or by machine, making a strip about 30 inches long and 5 inches wide. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush the strip halfway along its length with half the beaten egg. Put heaping teaspoons of the cheese mixture on the dough that has been brushed with the egg, making 12 mounds of the mixture about 2 1/2 inches apart.
• Cover with the plain half of the dough by folding it back along its length and press the dough down around each mound. Using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut 3-inch rounds or squares and arrange the cut ravioli on a tray dusted with semolina. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (The ravioli may be frozen.)
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the olive oil.
• While water is coming to a boil, bring chicken stock to a simmer in a medium to large saucepan and season with pepper. Whisk in the butter and cook about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
• Add a little salt to the boiling water; add the ravioli, reduce heat to medium and cook ravioli for 5 minutes. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon and drain on clean towel.
• Reheat the sauce and stir in the sage, marjoram and remaining chervil. Stir in the remaining Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the cooked, drained ravioli to the sauce; simmer a minute or two, and then spoon the ravioli into four warm bowls, spooning the sauce over each. Garnish with a sprig of chervil and serve at once.

CYN'S WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI

Steps:

• THE FILLING.
• Melt butter in pan.
• Add olive oil to melted butter.
• Add mushrooms.
• Let mushrooms sweat until they release their juices.
• Add pepper, salt, and onion/garlic powder.
• Add 1/8 cup beef broth and let mixture reduce.
• Once reduced, remove from heat and let cool.
• Add cheeses to blender/food processor.
• Add cooled mushroom mixture to cheese.
• Blend together until smooth.
• Add more broth if mixture is too thick.
• Remove mixture to bowl stir in 1/2 cup of mixed mushrooms.
• Set aside.
• THE DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
• Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
• Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
• Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
• Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
• FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
• When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
• Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
• Cut ravioli into squares with a pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
• DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
• COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
• Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
• Serve hot and enjoy with your favorite cream sauce.

WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER

Steps:

• Soak dried mushrooms in enough boiling water to cover for about 15 minute (until soft). Drain; squeeze and finely chop mushrooms.
• In a large skillet, cook fresh mushrooms in hot oil over medium-high heat about 5 min, or until liquid evaporates. Stir in porcini mushrooms, parsley and garlic; cook 1 more minute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl combine mushroom mixture, ricotta, and egg yolk.
• Spoon 1 T mushroom mixture onto wonton wrapper. Brush egg white around edges and top with another wrapper. Press edges together to seal.
• In two large saucepans, bring large amounts of water to boil. Add half the ravioli to each pan; cook for 3 to 5 minutes (until tender).
• Combined the melted butter and snipped sage.
• When ravioli is done, transfer to plates, drizzle with butter mixture, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Garnish with sage sprigs.

WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI WITH BASIL-PINE NUT SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Place the pine nuts on a heavy baking sheet, toast until fragrant. about 7 minutes. Let cool.
• (I toast in a dry fry pan on the stove top until golden brown).
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt water.
• Add the ravioli and boil until until they are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes, drain.
• (Once ravioli rises to the top of the boiling water, give it another couple of minutes it is done).
• In a large heavy frying pan melt the butter over medium high heat until pale golden brown, about 4 minutes.
• Add the basil leaves and cook until crisp.
• Sprinkle with 1/2 teas. salt and 1/2 teas. black pepper.
• Add the cooked ravioli to the butter mixture, toss in pine nuts, sprinkle in basil leaves and top with some grated parm-reggiano.
• Place on plates or in a covered casserole dish for serving.
• Serve with grated cheese at the table.

WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI

Steps:

• In small saucepan, combine water and porcini mushrooms. Bring to boil. Remove from heat; let stand for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Finely chop mushrooms; set aside.
• In small non-stick skillet, saute onion and shiitake mushrooms in 2 teaspoons butter until tender. Add porcini mushrooms and 1/4 cup soaking liquid. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 3-5 minutes or until liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese. salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature.
• Make sauce: In a samall saucepan, saute button mushrooms and garlic in remaining butter. Add marinara sauce and simmer.
• Spoon 2 teaspoons of mixture in center of wonton wrapper. Moisten edges with water, all the way to the filling. Top with another wonton wrapper, pressing down around filling to seal. Crimp with fork or pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to gentle simmer and cook 1-2 minutes until ravioli float to the top and are tender.
• Top with pasta sauce, parmesan and parsley.