Well it was an incredible semester abroad and I’m missing Europe quite a bit, but man is it good to be back! I’m sure you all are sick and tired of hearing me brag about my experiences in and around Spain, so my blog is going to be taking a turn for the beater. Brace yourselves for burger buns and kitchen puns; this blog is about to get kitchy.
I’m going to start with what will probably be the most challenging recipe I post here. Why, you ask? Two reasons: I had all of the resources I needed for this at home (but can’t exactly say the same for Duke) and if you can follow me on this one, you can follow me on just about any recipe I post from here on out! I first invented (yes, INVENTED) this recipe while in Barcelona, but with measuring cups and a rolling pin this recipe became a lot easier in Florida. I stopped in Gainesville (home of the Gators) to see my sister along my way to Durham, and since my sister had heard me speak endlessly about this dish and demanded that we make it, we did. I present:
What you’ve gotta have:
– 3 cups of flour
– 3 eggs
– 2 pears
– 1/2 medium onion
– 2 cups of spinach
– a roll of goat cheese
– olive oil
– toasted walnuts for garnish
What you’ve gotta do:
In case you haven’t figured it out, this recipe is going to require making pasta from scratch! Before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to make the filling. Dice the onion, and peel and dice the pears. Put a medium saucepan on the stove at medium heat with about a tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, and when it begins to become translucent, throw in the pears. Mix the batch so everything cooks evenly. As soon as the pear is soft (think as soft as the apples in apple pie), remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool.
Now you’re going to make the pasta! Pour the flour (start with 2 1/2 cups) into a large mixing bowl, make a crater in the middle, and crack the 3 eggs into it. Use a fork or a whisk to crack the yolks, and start mixing the egg into the flour. Once it starts to clump up, use your hands to knead the dough so it has a thick, smooth consistency. If the dough feels wet, continue to add a little more flour until it’s just a little sticky. Tear off a fistful, place it on a counter lightly coated in flour, and roll it out as thin as you possibly can. Cut into 3”x3” squares, and set them aside.
Using a teaspoon, serve a bit of goat cheese onto each pasta square. You can be as generous or as modest as you like – my motto is “More cheese, more pleased.” No it’s not. That’d be embarrassing. But I do love cheese.
Bring water to a boil in a stockpot while you craft your raviolis. Add about a half-teaspoon of filling to each ravioli and seal each shut. Once the water is brought to a boil, put the raviolis in and cook until they’re soft.
While the ravioli are cooking (roughly 10 minutes), put a tablespoon of olive oil in your saucepan and wilt the spinach. Strain the ravioli using a colander and toss with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve about 5 ravioli on a plate topped with spinach, walnuts, and goat cheese.
Get your nom on.
Bon appetite!
Ashley