Homemade Arugula Ravioli

Sunday tends to bring my favorite dinner of the week. Usually, I have a little extra time to prepare something special. I get to reflect on the highlights of the weekend and commence anticipating the week ahead with Peter. And usually it's just the two of us, which makes our dining room the scene of a home spun date night.

Given the bit of extra time, I thought it would be fun to make pasta, because I hadn't done it in awhile.

As we shopped, prepped, and cooked, we talked about Park City, the Cubs game, and the remaining work that needs to be done on the house. As we sat down to dinner we started to look forward to the week and weekend ahead - Peter's shark tournament in Martha's Vineyard and my family reunion in Quincy.

But perhaps because I chose ravioli instead of spaghetti, the pasta didn't romantically bring us together in a lip lock from across the table. In fact, as we were eating we both looked like we were going to fall asleep in our tomato sauce. Whether it was the travel or cleaning the house earlier in the day; whether it was putting the pieces of the screened in porch together or singing 'Go Cubs, Go!' too loudly; we were both feeling completely drained last night. So basically date night turned into a reservation for two for an early bedtime.

The raviolis were worth the fatigue though and they created full stomachs, which made for good night sleeps, which will ensure that date night on Monday is a little more energetic.  

Lo. 

Homemade Arugula Ravioli 
Serves 4 main course dinners or 8 appetizers

Dough (adapted from Bell'alimento)
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the middle. Whisk eggs together and then drop into the well. Using a wooden spoon or your hands incorporate flour into the middle with the eggs, until everything starts sticking together. Knead the dough gently about 2 minutes until its smooth. Cover the dough with another bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes. 

Filling
3 cups loose arugula
1 cup loose basil
1/4 cup loose parsley
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt, pepper

In a blender combine the ingredients above until it makes a smooth paste. Set aside. You may have leftover filling, which you can save and use as a sandwich spread or for another pasta later in the week.

Simple Tomato Sauce 
4 cloves of garlic
1 shallot diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
24 ounce can whole tomatoes
Salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper

Meanwhile saute garlic and shallot in olive oil for about 2 minutes, until translucent. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 35-45 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. Remove from heat, using an immersion blender or a standup blender, puree until smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm. If you time it right, this will be done just as everything else is.

Assembly
Start boiling a large pot of salted water.

Split dough into four equal parts. Roll out part of the dough using a pasta rolling machine or a rolling pin. Call me crazy, but I have better luck with a rolling pin for some reason. I'm able to get the dough thinner. Cut into long lasagna type sheets using a ravioli cutter. (They sell them at Williams Sonoma and other cooking stores.)

Drop teaspoon fulls of filling in the middle of the long sheets about 1 inch apart. Fold the sheet in half length wise, over the filling. Using the ravioli cutter again, cut in between fillings. Seal each ravioli with a fork or the other end of the ravioli tool. (This tool is amazing!) Set aside on a floured tray.

Repeat this (very time consuming process) with the rest of the dough. Immerse in boiling water and let cook for 4 - 5 minutes, or until the pasta floats to the top.

Serve with tomato sauce and top with Parmesan cheese.