My Ravioli Adventure - Day 7

It is a rainy and gloomy looking day out but I am looking forward to my day. My husband and I are getting to spend some quality (alone) time together. Thankfully, he loves going to antique stores as much as I do. We headed to an antique store near our house first and I did find some rolling pins...but nothing was exactly what I was looking for. We headed to Leesburg and took the ferry - it was a beautiful drive with the leaves changing. Leesburg has a main street with shops and restaurants and a handful of antique stores. We were able to find two rolling pins there (but no ravioli rolling pin). We found a very authentic mexican restaurant and had some amazing mexican food - you would not believe how much food we got for $8 apiece. We walked across the street to another antique store and I found my third rolling pin. Next, we headed to the last antique store on our stop in Lucketts. I really liked this store! Beautiful! No rolling pins though but I loved walking through this store. Another neat place that we passed (and came back to) was decorated with a pink and black polka dot silo. Another great store with lots of things I really liked. All in all, a very successful day for finding rolling pins. I just don't know where to go next for the antique ravioli rolling pin I desperately want...

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 6

I woke up feeling pretty optimistic and excited about venturing to the Frederick antique stores in search of rolling pins - in particular the antique ravioli rolling pin I really want. There are LOTS of antique stores in Frederick and it is a really quaint town with lots of restaurants as well. Unfortunately, I left after a very full day of looking in every nook and cranny in every store we walked past and didn't find a single rolling pin! It was a little surprising that there weren't any to be found. I did find an amazing copper pot with lid that has beautiful rope trim handles. Of course, it didn't look very pretty when I first brought it home. I quickly went to work on it with lemon juice and kosher salt and the beautiful copper gleam returned and even the handles turned a really nice color. I will probably need to get some copper cleaner to get some of the dark spots out. It was a great deal too! I came home a little deflated from not finding the one thing I was searching for but had a wonderful day. I decided to find more antique stores in the area and came upon one that I had passed many times over the years and had never stopped in. I decided to call and see if they were still in business and a really nice gentleman answered the phone. I asked him if they had any rolling pins and he returned to say that he had a basket full of them. I also found some other stores I want to explore and my husband is joining me. And, no...I did not make him give up golf with his buddies to go antiquing with me!

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 5

I'm sure you all have been wondering...how did the wonton wrapper version of homemade ravioli turn out? Although time-consuming to prepare, they looked like perfect round ravioli with fluted edges and they were all sealed perfectly. The real test was to see how the pickiest eater in the family would like them. She was in a rush to go coach so I am not sure if she wolfed them down because she was in such a hurry or if she really liked them. I did hear lots of noises that made me think she loved them though and she finally said, "those were SO good". Next, I had to see what my husband thought. He is very picky too and always judges things before he even has the first bite. But, he quickly ate a dozen and gave me several compliments and a high-five on them. I think I would work a little more on the filling and use a stronger tasting cheese next time (just a personal preference). I used two packages of wonton wrappers and I think I only have about 15 ravioli left. I have a feeling if I go the old fashioned method, that I can produce a lot more ravioli. At some point, I would love to have enough made to put extras in the freezer. I have a lot of work ahead of me!

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 4

All this talk about ravioli has made me have a huge craving for it! My husband has been out of town and I decided this a.m. to have a nice dinner waiting for him. So, I went out and bought some wonton wrappers and decided to do the shortcut method at first and work my way up.

I started off by making the filling. I began by mincing one onion, a handful of baby carrots, and celery. I also added in 1/2 bag of frozen spinach that I had thawed and squeezed to get rid of excess water. Once I had finished mincing everything (using the Ultimate Chopper that my Dad gave me), I put them into a large pot with a little olive oil. I let the vegetables saute and added in garlic, pepper, basil and parsley. Once the vegetables were soft, I added two lbs. of ground beef (90/10). Usually, I use less ground beef but I wanted to have a little more flavor in the filling. I put a lid on the pot and let the ground beef cook while occasionally stirring it and breaking it up into small pieces. Once the beef was cooked through, I drained everything and let it cool.

In a large bowl, I combined two packages of cream cheese and 1/2 container ricotta cheese. I added 1 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese to the mix as well and then added the beef mixture to the bowl. I thoroughly mixed everything together to incorporate all the ingredients. It smelled so good!

I took a cookie sheet and spread cornmeal on the bottom of the sheet. I took two wonton wrappers and used my pastry brush to brush them with water so that I could seall the ravioli. Next, I took a teaspoon of filling and put it in the center of the first wonton wrapper. I soon realized that you really just need 1/2 teaspoon. You can eyeball it but if you put too much, the wrapper will split. Next, put the second wonton wrapper on top and work to gently seal the ravioli while removing any air - air will cause the ravioli to burst in the boiling water. Once I sealed the ravioli, I used a fluted bisquit cutter and cut out my individual ravioli. This was very time consuming but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! I used two packages of wonton wrappers which made two cookie sheets full of ravioli. I did make a mini ravioli for taste and it was pretty yummy. I hope my family enjoys them tonite with the homemade meatballs I made.

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 3

My family is not very big and the Italian side is very small now. But, I decided to ask one of my Dad's closest friend's daughter (another Italian family) if she made homemade ravioli or if she knew anyone who did. She wrote back quickly and told me she did in fact make her own ravioli. She said she used a pasta machine (I have one but I want to do everything from scratch and want to use a rolling pin to make my dough thin). She was great and also gave me her family recipe (with measurements). It was great to finally get a real family recipe and it sounded almost identical to the one Aunt Titi described.

I feel a sense of energy and excitement and read a few more pages of the book. I have learned that at the end of the book, she provides her family recipes for ravioli. I can't wait to try them! I soon came to the realization that I don't have any of the supplies/materials needed to make ravioli. My real wish would be to have a huge butcher block island (antique preferably) that I could work on but there is no space in my kitchen for something like this. So, I have to improvise and figured I would need a large wooden board and found a great pastry board online. It has a lip that grips the edge of a counter and also another lip that keeps flour from going everywhere as you roll. Then, I wanted to find a rolling pin like the video showed and I also found a long, straight rolling pin. I also ordered a krimpcut sealer to cut and seal the edges. I had already located a ravioli rolling pin at an antiques store (it's not really an antique though). So, once I get these items, I think I'll be ready to go!

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 2

OK, the seed is planted in my foodie brain and I am relentlessly checking online to see if I can find the antique ravioli rolling pin. I have checked everywhere and am saddened to realize that the one and only one I saw was lost to me in ebay bidding. In the meantime, I realize I had a book that may help me and I begin reading "The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken" and I LOVE this book! I am about halfway through but love hearing how she wanted her family's recipe and how she traveled to Genoa in search of it. I also found a youtube.com video she did where she shows how to make ravioli...this is a great video and very helpful for getting a visual interpretation.

I decide to call my Mom in hopes that she will remember the filling in Nonni's ravioli. She used to sit at the table and watch her make ravioli. BUT...she couldn't remember! She said it was usually beef and ricotta (no spinach). She also said that they were covered in a light tomato sauce and that they were the best things she had ever eaten.

I also called my Aunt Titi who lived with Nonni and has made ravioli in the past. I was able to get from her that Nonni used either ground beef or minced chicken, spinach and ricotta. She said she would put in spices (she really only mentioned basil) and that the sauce was a tomato sauce. I didn't get any measurements from her or any other info as her phone was acting up and she had to go. Oh, she did say that it takes a lot of time to make them and that now she uses wonton wrappers if she wants to make them. Not exactly what I want. I want to make old fashioned, homemade ravioli like Nonni used to make. I want to feel a connection to my family.

My Ravioli Adventure - Day 1

Welcome to my blog! For those foodies out there, I hope you enjoy this. My family is Italian American and my grandparents came over from Florence, Italy. I have always had a real interest in Florence and finally got a chance to go there...it was more amazing than I ever imagined! My Nonni was an incredible cook and I was lucky enough to have experienced her food on holidays. But, the one thing she made that always made everyone smile in remembrance, was her ravioli. My Dad (who passed away in 2008), would literally go to a different place when he would describe her ravioli. He said it was the best thing he had ever eaten and that they were so incredibly light they would slide down his throat. I only wish I had Nonni around to teach me how to make them.

How did I decide to learn to make homemade ravioli like Nonni made? Well, I had recently made some changes to my kitchen and had some wall space that I didn't know what to do with. The idea came to me that I wanted to hang antique/vintage rolling pins on the wall. I went on ebay in search of rolling pins and came across an antique Italian ravioli rolling pin. Unfortunately, I was only going to bid so much and was outbid and did not get the rolling pin. I will continue to search until I find one!!! Once I get an idea in my head, it is hard for me to let go of it.

Now, the search was on for an antique ravioli rolling pin and to try and figure out Nonni's recipe...