post exam celebrations!!!

as of yesterday i was officially finished exams for the semester - hooray for a few months of holidays!! to celebrate i made some fig and walnut cookies that i took into work to share with the girls (and guys, but there aren't many of them in my department). then today my dear friend, miss alice, and i had a tea party in her new unit. it was a lovely spread - a huge shame that i didn't take any photos but it was delicious fun! i took some of the cookies i had left and made some toffee capsicum dip and homemade fairy bread. to top off a lovely relaxing day i did some sewing and then made some mushroom ravioli with a wine-infused-mushroom, basil and goats cheese sauce. it was delicious, but a huge pain to make the ravioli so i think that next time i will just mix the filing into the sauce and cut the pasta into pappardelle.

here is the ravioli recipe if there is anybody out there who is interested. it would make a lovely special dinner party meal, the recipe makes enough for four as a main.

happy cooking
much love, frankie.pleure

pasta

300g plain flour
eggs, lightly beaten
30mL olive oil
pinch of salt
extra flour

filling

200g mushrooms, sliced into small pieces
2 cloves garlic
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup red wine (i used yalumba y merlot - great for a drink while you're cooking too!)
pinch of salt
olive oil

sauce
100g goats cheese
1 clove garlic
large bunch of basil leaves, roughly chopped
50g butter
100mL cream
pinenuts (as desired - the more the better!)
olive oil
salt and pepper

pasta

mix flour and salt together, make a well in the middle and pour in olive oil and eggs
mix together from the middle out, incorporating a little flour at a time
knead to form a smooth ball of dough
wrap in cling wrap and put in the fridge for half an hour


filling

heat oil in saucepan
fry onions until transparent then add garlic and cook until lightly brown
add mushrooms, wine and salt and let simmer until mushrooms cook down and there is lots of liquid (about 5 minutes)
strain mushrooms from juice and allow to cool, set juice aside for the sauce


pasta
take pasta from fridge and divide into three pieces
run pasta through pasta machine until thin sheets, flouring in between rolling
cut pasta into 8cm squares
(you can save the off cuts, dry them on a drying rack and use at a later date)
place a spoonful of cooled mushroom filling in the middle of half of the pasta squares

dab a little water around the edges of the pasta square and lay another square over the top, starting from one corner and pressing down around the edges being careful to get as much air out as you can
with a rolling pin roll the edges of the ravioli where there are now two layers to make it thin
brush with flour so that it will not stick

sauce
toast pinenuts in a 180C oven for about 5 minutes until they are lightly browned
brown butter in a saucepan with garlic, stir in mushroom juice and bring to the boil
take off heat and put aside

pasta

in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook 3-4 ravioli at a time for about 30-40 seconds or until they float in the pot
(cooking time will depend on the thickness of your pasta)
drain and spray with olive oil so they don't stick together

sauce
stir cream, pine nuts and basil into sauce (leave some basil for garnish)

to serve
drizzle sauce over ravioli, top with goats cheese, a couple of basil leaves, a swirl of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

hope i didn't forget anything, (except to take a photo of the finished product - obviously I was much too eager to dig in!!) enjoy!