sheep. baaah.

a few weeks ago, i was shopping in the farmer's market in union square. i love it there. it's madness on saturdays, but i am really into buying locally-grown/raised foods. it seems ridiculous to use so much energy on shipping the foods, especially if we can get them from upstate. most of the apples we eat are imported from elsewhere, even though new york grows many, many varieties. insane.

i bought some sheep's milk ricotta. sheep's milk is milkier, it seems. creamier in flavor. i wish i could remember the farm i bought it from, but, well, i can't. i had to use it quickly, and i had been promising blake ravioli ever since last time. i was much more patient with the process, and rolled the dough out smoother. they were much prettier; i made a sauce using del monte organic tomato sauce as a base (there are coupons on the cans these days!) and added green bell peppers, onions, garlic, and spices. we put some chunks of fresh mozzarella on top. tasty.

ravioli-oli-oli

so, i made homemade ravioli. like an italian grandma. seriously. it's very easy, tasty, and you can fill up the ravioli with whatever you want! (ours had ricotta, of course, and spinach.)

ravioli-oli-oli
1. mix 2 cups flour with 2 eggs and enough water to make it stick together. (i was following a recipe from an italian cookbook from 1967 but it didn't call for enough water to make it stick together.) i would start with a couple of tablespoons and keep adding until it sticks. also, i used my hands to mix it because my pastry blender was getting so messy.
2. roll out the dough REALLY thin. mine was a bit too thick, so some of the ravioli were too doughy.
3. put a teaspoon of your ricotta mixture (one cup ricotta, 1 egg, 1/3 bunch grated spinach, dab of salt, pepper, garlic powder) onto the dough.
4. cut enough dough around the mixture with enough dough available to be able to seal the mixture inside. i used my hands to seal it but it would be nice to have a pastry crimper.
5. boil for 20 minutes in salted water. at first, they stick to the bottom of the pot so you have stir them a bit. eventually, they will float.
6. top with sauce of your choice. (ours was a tomato sauce with fresh green bell peppers, onion, and garlic.)

really, food is so much better when you make it yourself. there are weird ingredients and preservatives in packaged food. ours was the real deal. yum.