Friday Suppers: Smoked salmon ravioli

I've decided to try my hand at a regular feature in which I will post a recipe suitable for a Friday night in. In the spirit of offering some variety, this might be a starter, main course or dessert and I'll try my best to come up with my own recipes although at times I may refer to one of my faithful cookbooks. I'd love to hear how you get on with these dinner suggestions, so feel free to leave comments.

So, the first Friday Supper is here and we're having homemade smoked salmon ravioli with a basil tomato sauce. Here goes!

You will need:

For the ravioli
Fresh lasagne sheets (shop bought or homemade if you have the equipment)
A portion of hot smoked salmon (you can use regular smoked slamon too)
3-4 tbsp cream cheese, such as Philidelphia
1 egg
A small bunch of fresh basil
Salt and pepper

For the sauce
A tin of chopped tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Splash of white wine
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt and peper, to taste
Grated parmesan cheese



Please note these quantities are approximate and will feed 2 people. You may need to upscale the recipe as necessary.


To make the ravioli

1. Flake the salmon into a bowl and break it up into small pieces. Add the cream cheese, tear the basil leaves and add to the salmon. Mix thoroughly with a fork, you want to get a fairly even texture, not too lumpy. Taste it then add more basil if required and season accordingly.

2. Lay out a fresh lasagne sheet and spoon 1tsp of the salmon mix onto the sheet. Depending on the size of the lasagne, you might get 4-8 raviolis per sheet. Remember to space out the fillings so that there is enough pasta around the edges so you can seal the ravioli.

Source: mothsoupstories.com

3. Beat the egg and use a pastry brush to brush over the lasagne sheets, around the salmon mix. This will help seal the ravioli.

Source: petitchef.com

 

4. Lay a lasagne sheet over the sheet with the fillings and press down around the edges of each spoonful of salmon mixture. Make sure not to tear the pasta as this will cause the ravioli to leak when you cook them.

5. Use a pizza cutter (or pasta cutter if you have one) to cut between the mounds and make individual 'parcels'. A bit like this:

Source: theitaliandishblog.com

6. Now the ravioli is made, they are ready for the sauce!

To make the sauce

1. Using a blender or food processer, mix the tomatoes, basil, garlic and oil until it is smooth.

2. Use a large frying pan to gently heat the sauce. Stir occasionally and add the wine when it starts to simmer.

3. Once the wine has cooked off slightly, add a spalsh of balsamic vinegar. Be sure not to add too much, you can always add more later! This might sound like a weird addition, but trust me, it works and gives a bit of depth to the flavour of the sauce.

4.  Mix well and season to taste. Add more balsamic if necessary.

5. While the sauce is cooking, drop the ravioli into boiling water to cook the pasta. When they float in the water, they are cooked.

Ravioli, just about ready

Sauce cooking while ravioli cook

6. When the ravoili is cooked, use a slotted spoon to life them out of the water and into the pan with the sauce. I find if you drain with a colander, they tend to stick together, so lifting them out with a spoon works best for me.

Ravioli in sauce

7.  Gently stir the ravioli in the sauce before serving. Top with grated parmesan to taste. If you want to be posh you can add a small sprig of basil to decorate.

Posh basil on top!

8. Serve with a large glass of wine and a chunk of ciabatta to soak up the sauce! Enjoy!!

Yummy!

NB. Mr PC made the pasta from scratch, and I didn't have the brainwave to create a Friday Suppers feature until halfway through the cooking process, hence the pics which I've borrowed from other websites. I'll also be more organised and take better pictures next time!