While rolling out the pasta dough for last night's dinner (more on that soon!), my mind wandered to last New Year's Eve...
We were finally back on rhythm after our fun, crazy, tiring, wonderful Christmas in L.A. Given all the rich foods of the past two weeks, it was time for something elegant but fairly (?) simple.
So...
I made a batch of pasta dough...
While that was resting, I trimmed a bunch of mushroom stems (just plain old white buttons) and processed them. I sautéed them in a bit of butter and, when most of the liquid had evaporated, I added very finely minced onion, sautéed for a few more minutes, and then added salt, pepper, and a hefty shot of Madeira (dry Marsala is another option... or dry sherry).
When all this was pretty dry, I placed it a bowl to cool Once it had cooled, I added a handful of grated Parmigiano, about 1/3 C of homemade ricotta...
Homemade Ricotta with Fresh Herbs
And tasted for seasoning. I rolled out sheets of pasta and filled the ravioli...
Gently simmered these beauties in heavily salted water, drained them carefully, and plated them with fried sage leaves, some grated Parmigiano, and brown butter.
Truly. Simply. Elegant.
I also added some minced scallion greens, though I'm not sure that was necessary.
Afterward, we had the house salad: arugula, pumpkinseed oil, sherry vinegar, and smoked salt!
All in all, a great, delicious way to welcome 2015 and give the boot to the annus horribilis that was 2014...
What a tasty May daydream!