At Home Cooking Experience-By Lalita Kunte: 4/11/2010
Last Wednesday we made pizza for dinner from scratch but it didn’t occur to me to take pictures then to put on my blog. So today I decided to make another dish and take pictures so I could use it for my blog. I had never cooked stuffed ravioli before but decided to take up this adventure for my “At home cooking experience” assignment Any ways---I am going to write about two recipes here, pepperoni pizza and spinach ravioli. These recipes are very simple and very common but I gave a little “spicy” twist to the pepperoni pizza.
Recipe: Pepperoni Pizza-with herbs
I like pizza made with fresh pizza bread because of its fermented and freshly baked aroma. Pizza crust is rather bland and has no taste or visual. So I prefer any kind of topping rather than eating just plain cheese pizza. My kids are very picky eaters and don’t like to explore new things. They like just plain cheese pizza. However, occasionally they eat pepperoni pizza. Pepperonis bought from supermarket are tasteless most of the times.
I like spices and herbs. So I though of adding little “pizzazz” to plain old pizza crust by adding some dry herbs such as, basil, oregano, thyme and minced garlic. I work in a spice company where I had made this “tomato–herb pizza topper seasoning” by mixing different dry spices, and dehydrated tomato, onion and garlic flakes. This pizza topper seasoning can be sprinkled on top of a freshly baked pizza for more flavor and eye appeal. Here is my pizza recipe:
Pizza Crust: Mix 1 tsp dry yeast + 1 tsp sugar and ½ tsp salt. Add this to 1 cup of warm water and set aside for 10 min. Once the yeast is activated, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 and ½ cup of all-purpose flour, 1teaspoon dry basil, ½ tsp dry thyme, 2 tsp dehydrated minced garlic. Knead the dough with hand and add more water if needed. Cover the dough with wet cloth and keep it in warm place for about 30 min. The dough should almost double in size. Then punch the dough stretch it. Work the dough until you it is elastic. Make a ball of dough with your hand and flatten it down on a lightly floured cutting board (or any other clean surface) until you make a nice round pizza bread/crust. This recipe will make 2 pizza breads). Cut some holes with fork in the crust to prevent it from rising during baking. Bake the crust at 400 F for 10-15 min (do not over bake it becomes hard).
My pizza crust turned out beautiful and had lot of flavor because of added herbs. I spread homemade pizza sauce (added some oregano, basil, black pepper, olive oil, sugar and salt to tomato sauce, and tomato past and cooked for 5 minutes) on my pizza crust, and topped it with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Pizza was baked for 12 more minutes until the cheese was melted. After that I added my ‘tomato-herb’ pizza topper, which really made pizza further tasty. Sweet fennel and crushed red pepper nicely complemented flavors (or lack of flavor) in pepperoni, while tomato, thyme, garlic, and basil gave more ‘Italian’ flavors to my pizza. Try this at home folks. I can send you my signature “tomato-herb” pizza topper if you like!
Recipe: Spinach Ravioli
Last Wednesday we made pizza for dinner from scratch but it didn’t occur to me to take pictures then to put on my blog. So today I decided to make another dish and take pictures so I could use it for my blog. I had never cooked stuffed ravioli before but decided to take up this adventure for my “At home cooking experience” assignment Any ways---I am going to write about two recipes here, pepperoni pizza and spinach ravioli. These recipes are very simple and very common but I gave a little “spicy” twist to the pepperoni pizza.
Recipe: Pepperoni Pizza-with herbs
I like pizza made with fresh pizza bread because of its fermented and freshly baked aroma. Pizza crust is rather bland and has no taste or visual. So I prefer any kind of topping rather than eating just plain cheese pizza. My kids are very picky eaters and don’t like to explore new things. They like just plain cheese pizza. However, occasionally they eat pepperoni pizza. Pepperonis bought from supermarket are tasteless most of the times.
I like spices and herbs. So I though of adding little “pizzazz” to plain old pizza crust by adding some dry herbs such as, basil, oregano, thyme and minced garlic. I work in a spice company where I had made this “tomato–herb pizza topper seasoning” by mixing different dry spices, and dehydrated tomato, onion and garlic flakes. This pizza topper seasoning can be sprinkled on top of a freshly baked pizza for more flavor and eye appeal. Here is my pizza recipe:
Pizza Crust: Mix 1 tsp dry yeast + 1 tsp sugar and ½ tsp salt. Add this to 1 cup of warm water and set aside for 10 min. Once the yeast is activated, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 and ½ cup of all-purpose flour, 1teaspoon dry basil, ½ tsp dry thyme, 2 tsp dehydrated minced garlic. Knead the dough with hand and add more water if needed. Cover the dough with wet cloth and keep it in warm place for about 30 min. The dough should almost double in size. Then punch the dough stretch it. Work the dough until you it is elastic. Make a ball of dough with your hand and flatten it down on a lightly floured cutting board (or any other clean surface) until you make a nice round pizza bread/crust. This recipe will make 2 pizza breads). Cut some holes with fork in the crust to prevent it from rising during baking. Bake the crust at 400 F for 10-15 min (do not over bake it becomes hard).
My pizza crust turned out beautiful and had lot of flavor because of added herbs. I spread homemade pizza sauce (added some oregano, basil, black pepper, olive oil, sugar and salt to tomato sauce, and tomato past and cooked for 5 minutes) on my pizza crust, and topped it with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Pizza was baked for 12 more minutes until the cheese was melted. After that I added my ‘tomato-herb’ pizza topper, which really made pizza further tasty. Sweet fennel and crushed red pepper nicely complemented flavors (or lack of flavor) in pepperoni, while tomato, thyme, garlic, and basil gave more ‘Italian’ flavors to my pizza. Try this at home folks. I can send you my signature “tomato-herb” pizza topper if you like!
Recipe: Spinach Ravioli
This is my daughter’s favorite dish. But I never tried making this at home until today. It was labor intensive and little messy but it turned out good in the end! I followed this recipe, which I found on the website http://www. thecookcity.com”. I used rolling pin and ravioli cutter instead of pasta machine to make my ravioli triangles.
Pasta Dough:
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (use a finer-grain salt, not coarse sea salt)
Making the Pasta Dough
Place all ingredients into a food processor and combine until the mixture begins to form a ball.
Remove from the processor and place on a floured work surface. Knead by hand, adding flour if necessary, until the dough become smooth and elastic.
Flatten the dough with rolling pin and cut about 3 inch wide strips
Spinach Filling:
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups ricotta.
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
1 cup finely-chopped spinach
1 egg yolk
Generous pinch of salt and several grinds of fresh pepper. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set them aside until you are ready to make ravioli.
Egg Wash:
2 egg whites with 2 tablespoons water, combined well with a fork to fully emulsify
Assembling ravioli:
1. Lay pasta strips on a flat surface.
2. Using a spoon place a heaping teaspoon of spinach filling on the strips, each about 3-inches apart. Be consistent in the amounts for each ravioli.
3. Using a pastry brush, brush a light amount of egg white wash around the ricotta filling.
4. Place another strip of pasta dough on top of the one with the filling and using your fingers, gently press around all the edges and in between the mounds of cheese filling. Don't push the cheese filling out. Your goal is to seal each pocket without tearing the dough.
5. Using the serrated edge of your ravioli cutter, cut each pocket into its own separate parcel, trimming each edge to fully seal it.
Pasta Dough:
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (use a finer-grain salt, not coarse sea salt)
Making the Pasta Dough
Place all ingredients into a food processor and combine until the mixture begins to form a ball.
Remove from the processor and place on a floured work surface. Knead by hand, adding flour if necessary, until the dough become smooth and elastic.
Flatten the dough with rolling pin and cut about 3 inch wide strips
Spinach Filling:
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups ricotta.
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
1 cup finely-chopped spinach
1 egg yolk
Generous pinch of salt and several grinds of fresh pepper. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set them aside until you are ready to make ravioli.
Egg Wash:
2 egg whites with 2 tablespoons water, combined well with a fork to fully emulsify
Assembling ravioli:1. Lay pasta strips on a flat surface.
2. Using a spoon place a heaping teaspoon of spinach filling on the strips, each about 3-inches apart. Be consistent in the amounts for each ravioli.
3. Using a pastry brush, brush a light amount of egg white wash around the ricotta filling.
4. Place another strip of pasta dough on top of the one with the filling and using your fingers, gently press around all the edges and in between the mounds of cheese filling. Don't push the cheese filling out. Your goal is to seal each pocket without tearing the dough.
5. Using the serrated edge of your ravioli cutter, cut each pocket into its own separate parcel, trimming each edge to fully seal it.
Final Cooking:
1. Bring a very large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Cook the ravioli about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain carefully.
3. Serve with a favorite tomato sauce, chopped fresh tomatoes, a basil pesto, or just some grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
However, we modified the 3rd step as per our taste. My kids like dry-fried ravioli instead of wet-soggy kind. So we added this step.
- Add little olive oil to a large hot skillet and fry cooked ravioli. Garnish it with grated parmesan cheese, and dry oregano leaves. Sprinkle some ‘Italian seasoning’ on top and serve hot! This friend ravioli is way more tasty than usual soggy one!
1. Bring a very large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Cook the ravioli about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain carefully.
3. Serve with a favorite tomato sauce, chopped fresh tomatoes, a basil pesto, or just some grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
However, we modified the 3rd step as per our taste. My kids like dry-fried ravioli instead of wet-soggy kind. So we added this step.
- Add little olive oil to a large hot skillet and fry cooked ravioli. Garnish it with grated parmesan cheese, and dry oregano leaves. Sprinkle some ‘Italian seasoning’ on top and serve hot! This friend ravioli is way more tasty than usual soggy one!
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