Prawn, lemon and garlic ravioli

Serves 4 as an entree or makes 8 ravioli

• 300g raw prawns with heads on
• 1 tablespoon cream
• 6 basil leaves
• 16 round gow gee wrappers
• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, zested using a vistrus zester
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Remove the heads and shells from all but 4 of the prawns. Set the best 4 prawns aside. In a food processor, blend the shelled prawn meat, cream and 3 basil leaves until it becomes a paste.

2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. While it is boiling, assemble the ravioli. Take 1 teaspoon of the prawn mix and using water, seal the edges by pressing them well together. Ensure that they are sealed very well and try and flatten the prawn meat in the centre so that they are easier to balance on top of each other. Drop 2 at a time into the boiling water and cooked until the meat becomes pink- about 4-5 minutes. Drain and set aside onto the serving plates. Lastly cook prawns until pink throughout and drain and reserve.

3. As they are cooking, make the sauce which is very easy. Just place the olive oil, zest from 1/2 of the lemon, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and garlic in a bowl and mix to emulsify. Shred remaining 3 basil leaves with your hands and add this too.
4. Assemble ravioli: place two on top of each other and then spoon 2 tablespoons of dressing over them. Then place one prawn on top of the stack and serve.

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup pastina pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
• 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Eggs in Purgatory

I got this reciepe from the food network you can click here to see there photos.  Much more attractive than mine.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 ounces deli-sliced salami, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 Italian green frying pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup tomato puree or marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 8 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
• Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard. Increase the heat to high and add the salami, onion, peppers and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the salami starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and 1/2 cup water and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium. Scatter the parsley leaves into the skillet. Make 4 indentations in the pepper mixture for the eggs. Break 2 eggs into a small bowl, then pour both into one of the indentations. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cover and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to desired doneness. Serve with the bread

Pelemeny

Pelemeny (Russian Version of Ravioli)

Filling:
1/2 lb. ground chicken

1/2 lb. ground veal, or lamb, or beef

1 medium onion grated

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:
2 cups sifted flour

1 egg

1/3 cup water

Combine the two meats with onion. Add seasonings to taste and mix well and set aside.

Prepare Dough: In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour and a pinch of salt. Make a nest in the flour, add the egg which has been mixed with water. Work the flour into the egg and mix and then knead to a rather dry dough. Use more or less flour as needed. Roll dough very thin. Cut the dough into 2″ circles. Put a small ball of filling (about 1/2 tsp) onto each circle and fold over and pinch edges making a half-moon shape. Then pinch each corner up together.

Boil in your choice of broth. Add the Pelemeny to the boiling broth. When they are done they will surface like doughnuts. You can serve them with the broth like a soup or you can have them plain with some sour cream.

This recipe should feed 4-6 people.

A Mennonite Lunch

Klissen or Kielke

• 
  
  3 cups flour
• 
  
  1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 
  
  3 eggs
• 
  
  1/2 cup milk

Stir together the eggs and the milk and the salt. Slowly stir in the flour and then knead the dough until nice and smooth. Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for several hours or overnight.

Put a bit of flour on the counter and begin to roll the dough out quite thin .. adding more flour underneath as needed. You don't want the dough to stick, and adding too much flour won't be a problem.

Once it is rolled out. . .it can sit for several hours without problem. About 1 hour before dinner, spread a bit of flour over all the dough. Cut large strips about 2 inches wide across all the dough.

Stack about 4 or 5 strips at a time on top of one another as you can see in the above collage.

In a small saucepan, bring to boil, 1/2 cup butter and whipping cream and add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Turn down to a simmer.

Saute, several large onions until golden brown.

Bring to boil, a large pot of salted water. Boil the noodles for a few minutes. . they don't take very long at all. Once they are floating. . .taste one to make sure it is done.

Drain into a colander .. .put in a large  bowl and pour the cream sauce over top, stir and serve with the onions on the side. . unless everyone loves onions.

Substitution! Yep life interrupted planning

Ok, ok I know I was suppose to be making Chinese pork roast for dinner..  well long story short it didn't happen.  So I had to use my all time fall back meal.  We all have one.  Mine happens to be Paula Deans Mac and Cheese.  You can come over to my house any time request this and I will have everything needed to make it...  Anyways  here it is..

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stuck) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

I hope your dinner plans went smoother then mine.  At least we still had a yummy meal :)