Tag: Cheese

Homemade Ravioli

Homemade pasta is an easy task and is the sign of a real chef. You can buy frozen, but it is easy and quick to make your own. I’ve been meaning to make my own pasta for years. I’ve seen so many cooking shows where they make the “nest” of flour, make a hole in the center, add some eggs, and slowly mix to become a beautiful pasta dough. Though I have every intention of living my dream and making it that way, I also have a stand mixer and I wanted to make this dough quickly, so next time I make a homemade pasta (or so I say). This recipe made enough pasta for about a pound of pasta. As ravioli, it made 22, but it could easily make 24-25 if you had a pasta roller and could thin it out more evenly. I made a simple cheese mix with what I had. If you wanted more flavor variety, you could add spinach, some herbs, or other veggies/purées. The egg was essential to keep the ravioli closed, however you should press all the edges together as well. These ravioli were very delicious, and the flavor was so unique because they were homemade. This dish will easily impress any guest.

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 2 Tbsp oil, and a pinch of salt. Use a dough hook, and beat over low speed till it comes together.
  2. Once the dough has come together and fully formed, knead dough on floured counter for a minute, then wrap in saran and let sit for 15 minutes.
  3. While dough is resting, mix together 1/4 cup cottage cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella for your filling. In another container, add one egg and beat till fully mixed.
  4. Flour a large work surface. Begin rolling out pasta dough, rotating the dough by a quarter turn every couple passes. Roll out the dough as thin as you can by hand, less than 1/8th inch if possible. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch squares using a sharp knife.
  5. Begin placing about 1 Tbsp of cheese filling onto every other square. Brush egg wash on the outer edges of the squares without filling.
  6. Place the egg wash square on top of a cheese square and pinch the edges closed. Dust lightly with flour and place on baking sheet. Repeat this step until all ravioli are formed.
  7. At this point, you can begin boil them immediately, 3-5 minutes until they float. You can refrigerate them well sealled for up to 2-3 days, or place them into a freezer bag and keep them frozen for 1-2 months.
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Tortellini Alfredo

This tortellini dish is filling. The chives and lemon bring some unique tang to this dish that makes it an adventure to eat. The sauce I used is Aldis brand Alfredo. It’s an OK sauce, but it is very thick and doesn’t have much personality but heavy. To make the sauce better, I thinned the sauce with milk, added garlic powder, and added chives and lemon juice at the end. The tortellini I got was Weis brand and it was a 12 oz bag. This meal makes 4 hearty sized portions.

  1. In a medium sauce pan, add 1 jar of alfredo sauce, and one jar of milk. Heat till simmering over medium high heat.
  2. Once simmering, add 1 package of frozen tortellini. Add 1 Tbsp garlic powder and stir. Cook for 10 minutes or until tortellini is cooked. Remove from heat, add diced chives and 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Stir and serve.
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French Bread Pizza

I’ve had an old Italian loaf in my freezer for months. I made this back when I made my Homemade Italian Bread post in March. It had a little freezer burn, but over all it survived very well in my freezer for a month. Josh and I needed a quick dinner the other day and I had just mad more bread on Monday, so my starter was still maturing in the fridge. This is similar to my other pizza recipes as far as toppings and seasoning. You can add more toppings as you desire, but i’m reserving what I can because of the pandemic. I baked my bread an extra 10 minutes at the beginning to thaw it, but otherwise, I did the exact steps listed below.

  1. Heat an oven to 350 F
  2. Divide an Italian loaf (or french bread) in half by length and then cutting each half in half.
  3. Place the cut bread onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes to toast your bread.
  4. Once toasted, top your bread with tomato sauce, a sprinkle of garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and marjoram. Top with a thick layer of shredded mozzarella, the sprinkle on some oregano.
  5. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
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Baked Ziti

Baked ziti is a big dish that can feed a big family, or feed a small family for several days. Josh and I have been eating this ziti for almost a week, and it’s still just as good. For 2 adults, it was 8 meals and very tasty. Similarly to my lasagna recipe, I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. I just like the availability, and the mildness of the flavor comparatively. I also made this dish early in the day, put it into the fridge, then baked it again, and it came out just as it would the first time, but if you want to put it in the fridge before baking, add 15 minutes to your cook time, and if you choose to make this then freeze it, just double the bake time when you bake it from frozen.

  1. Bake ziti noodles until al dente. Meanwhile, brown 1 lb of ground beef.
  2. Heat oven to 400 F.
  3. Open a jar of spaghetti sauce and season to taste. Place 4 Tbsp of sauce at the bottom of a 2 qt baking dish, and evenly distribute. Add the remainder of sauce to your meat mixture and bring to a simmer.
  4. Spread out 1/2 the cooked ziti noodles into a layer on top of the sauce. In a side bowl, mix together 1.5 cup cottage cheese/ricotta, 4 oz shredded mozzarella, and 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning.
  5. Place 1/3 of the meat sauce on top of your noodle layer. Place cheese mixture in a layer on top of your cheese layer. Top with the remainder of your noodles, then top with remainder sauce and an additional 4 oz shredded mozzarella.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before eating.
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Homemade Calzone From Starter

I make pizzas, calzones, and strombolis relatively often. I try to improve the recipe every time I make it. I will admit, adding sauce to the calzone not only makes the dish messier to make, but it also leaves the bottom crust soggy. However, this calzone is juicy compared to my stromboli recipe. I have to admit I’m torn which is better.

I stuffed my calzone with diced ham and one small/medium onion I pulsed in a food processor. I added the onion raw and it cooked slightly during the process but still have the overwhelming onion flavor. Besides that, using this homemade starter had begun to give everything the sour dough taste I make with it, and it’s not working as efficiently as active dried yeast would work. I also used leftover spaghetti sauce instead of my usual homemade pizza sauce, but I would definitely just use the pizza sauce next time, just because the sauce I used had a cheesy flavor that didn’t compliment the dish. The sour flavor of the bread with the onion and the cheesy flavor in my sauce made this dish very weird to eat. I would recommend using no additional parmasean in this dish, and eliminating the onion if you plan to use this starter, just because it’s so much bitter flavor. If you use normal yeast, ham and onion are a great combination.

  1. Into a bowl, add 1 cup of starter dough, 1 1/2 Tbsp oil, and 2 cups flour. Mix into a dough adding additional water as needed. Then let rest covered about 1 hour, it will only rise slightly. Preheat oven to 400 F
  2. Punch down dough, remove from bowl, and roll out dough into round about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. It should have a diameter of 16-20 inches.
  3. Spray your baking sheet with non stick spray, if applicable, and place your dough on top.
  4. To make pizza sauce, open a small can (8 oz) of tomato sauce and add 1 Tbsp of garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp of onion salt, 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning, and 1 Tbsp oregano.
  5. Top dough with tomato sauce, 8 oz of mozzarella, and other toppings over the entire top of the dough. Fold the dough in half and pinch the edges together and rolling them in. Add slits on top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Bake for 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
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