Homemade Ravioli & Week's Menu Plan

With a long weekend, I definitely plan to put it to good use: making homemade ravioli.  It's incredibly simple to make but you do need some extra time on your hands.  However, once the ravioli is made, you can refrigerate it or freeze it to make a delicious homemade dinner about 5 minutes flat.

If you're ambitious and have the right tools, you can actually make the ravioli pasta yourself.  But for everyone else, store-bought wonton wrappers are the surprising choice for the pasta. They provide a light and delicate wrap and are just the right size.  You can stuff anything you'd like in the ravioli - cheese, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, etc.  My choice is spinach and ground turkey breast.

Homemade Ravioli
Makes 30-40 ravioli
 
Ravioli filling:
Taken from: AllRecipes

• 4 ounces (1/4 pound) ground turkey breast or ground beef
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs or panko
• 1/4 teaspoon dried spices (I use a 1/4 teaspoon of each: oregano, thyme, basil, onion powder and garlic powder)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 egg white
• salt and ground pepper

-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in the ground turkey/beef. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the turkey/beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
-Transfer the turkey/beef mixture to a bowl. Add the Parmesan, parsley, bread crumbs, olive oil, egg, garlic salt, and pepper and mix well. Run the filling through a grinder until smooth (or puree in a food processor until smooth).
 
Ravioli preparation:
Taken from: Faithful Provisions

• Wonton wrappers (approximately 40)
• Small dish of water

-Lay wonton wrappers out on workspace, have a small dish of water to dip your fingers in to wet wonton so it will seal.
-Lay out two wrappers, and top one with approximately one tablespoon of filling of choice.
-Brush the edges of the wrapper with water and lay the second wrapper on top, seal edges (I also press down with edge of a fork to help seal the edges).  Continue until you use all the filling.
-To freeze the ravioli: Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay ravioli in a single layer and place in freezer for about 30 minutes.  Once ravioli is frozen, it can be placed in a freezer bag and stored for up to 3 months.  This helps to ensure that the ravioli do not stick to one another.
-To cook ravioli: This can be cooked from fresh or directly from frozen.  Boil a pot of water and cook ravioli for about 2 to 3 minutes.  Keep it at a low boil.  Drain and serve.

Week's Menu Plan 

Sunday: Mango chicken salad sandwich

Monday: pizza
 
Tuesday :  crisp ravioli  (homemade) served with steamed artichokes

Wednesday: Mujadara and spanakopita

Thursday: Chicken cacciatore with roasted cauliflower

Friday: appetizers