Ricotta Cheese Ravioli with Lemon Slices

When Tony and I were on a cruise this past October 2024, one of our ports was the beautiful town of Amalfi. Our morning started with a tour to a nearby grotto, which was beautiful. Later we explored the town.
 
For lunch, we ate at Rosticceria La Galea. I had the most amazing ricotta ravioli with a lemon flavor: RAVIOLI ALLO SFUSATO AMALFITAN, Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese, local Amalfi lemon, with Datterini cherry tomatoes, shrimps and rocket. 

Datterini means “little dates”, elongated small tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are a good substitute. 
 
While there were lots of other delicious dishes to choose from on the menu, I decided to try this ravioli dish since it was so appropriate being in the land of lemons.
 
There are many variations of lemon ravioli recipes online, some with lemon juice and others with a combination of lemon juice and lemon zest.  I wanted to duplicate what I ate, so this is my creation.
 
Serves 2
 
4 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz. cherry tomatoes cut in half
4 T tomato sauce
Salt to taste
A few turns of the black pepper mill
Ricotta Stuffed  Ravioli, enough for two servings
1 lemon, peeled into strips and thinly sliced
6-7 large shrimp, peeled and diced into large pieces
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
5-6 Basil leaves, julienned
Arugula

Instructions:
 
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the ravioli for 3-4 minutes. Drain and reserve 1 cups of water. 

I cooked 20 raviolis and had some leftovers

Meanwhile, in a large skillet on medium high heat, add the olive oil and garlic. Sauté the garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon slices, cherry tomatoes, stirring to combine, then add the tomato sauce. Cook on low.  With a wooden spoon, gently smash the tomatoes to let out the juices.

While the ravioli is cooking, add the shrimp to skillet and cook until they are no longer opaque. This will be about the same time the ravioli is done.

 
 Add the drained ravioli, about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, and 1/4 parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. You want the sauce to have a ‘soupy’ consistency, so adjust as needed. Add half of the basil and stir to combine.

 

Plate the food and top with fresh arugula, more basil and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

 
My Notes:
 
The ravioli that I had at the restaurant did not have lemon zest as part of the filling, just a regular ricotta filling. The thinly sliced lemon peel is what brought out the lemon flavor. It may have had some lemon juice in the tomato sauce. At Trader Joe’s, I found Ricotta and Lemon Zest Ravioli and used for this recipe.
 
Next time I may add a squeeze of lemon juice to really brighten up the dish.
 
For a variety, I may add some crushed pepper flakes.
 
Next time I will stir in half of the arugula in the skillet and will finish with fresh arugula.

Turkey Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

24 Jan 2024

December 2022: My friend Amy C made this for our book club. 

This makes 16 roll ups.

Ingredients:

1 package lasagna noodles (use the kind you Boil, not the no boil ones)

1 jar tomato sauce (I used Lowes Spicy Arrabbiata sauce)

1 15-oz can fire roasted tomatoes

1 lb ground turkey

1 small container fresh baby spinach

32 oz. Ricotta cheese (I used part skim)

1 egg

~1 tsp Italian seasoning

~1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 package shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1) Boil large pot of water and cook lasagna according to package (suggest cooking in 2 batches so the noodles don't stick)

2) Mix tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes together

3) While lasagna is cooking brown ground turkey and drain off any excess liquid/fat then mix with a little bit of the fire roasted tomatoes

4) When lasagna is cooked, carefully coat with a bit of tomato sauce and then lay out flat to cool for a bit

5) Chiffonade (thin slice) the baby spinach

6) Mix together Ricotta, egg, Italian seasoning and garlic powder to taste

7) When cheese, egg, etc. are well mixed add in spinach and stir well to coat it all and evenly distribute

8) Coat the bottom of a ceramic baking dish with a bit of sauce

9) When lasagna noodles are cool enough to handle lay out one at a time on parchment paper and smear with cheese/spinach mix leaving about 1-2 inches at top of noodle clear, sprinkle with a bit of turkey and shredded mozzarella

10) Starting from bottom roll up the loaded lasagna noodle

11) Place upright in the baking dish, repeat

12) Lightly drizzle top and dish side of noodles with any remaining sauce

13) Cover with tinfoil 

14) Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes 

My Notes: 

I made this on 22 January 2024 (photos below).

I had a large pot to cook all of the lasagna noodles (added 2 T of salt) at one time. I rinsed them in cold water after boiling and to stop the cooking process.

For the ricotta filling, Amy's recipe calls for 32 oz. I may not have used enough, as I had a lot left over (Tony made lasagna a few days later, so that worked out well). I will either add more filling the next time or just buy a 15 oz container.  I added some parmesan cheese and mozzarella  to the mixture. Next time I'll chop the spinach. 

For the meat sauce, I sautéed 1/2 cup of chopped onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic with 1 T olive oil before adding and browning the meat. I seasoned with salt and pepper. I added Rao's marinara sauce, the fire roasted tomatoes (drained), and some hot pepper flakes.

I laid out the lasagna on top of parchment paper so that it didn't stick to the counter and added the filling and meat mixture. Instead of standing these, I laid them on the sides seam down (14 in a glass 9x13 baking pan; two in a smaller baking pan, which I wrapped tightly and froze for a future dinner). 

I baked this for 40 minutes, then uncovered and broiled for 2-3 minutes until the mozzarella cheese was bubbly. 

This came out great and my friends that were over for dinner loved it. 

The next time I will do a combination of beef and Italian sausage. 

Broccoli Mushroom Noodle Casserole

I made this for a cookbook club dinner yesterday. It's from Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen. There were two books to select recipes. 

 
6 Servings
 
Ingredients
 
2 stalks fresh broccoli, including stems, peeled and chopped
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 -2 T butter

Salt

Pepper

1/4 C dry white wine
3 Eggs
3 C ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, (or a combination)
1 C sour cream
3 C uncooked wide egg noodles

1 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 – 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs or 1/4-1/2 cup wheat germ

 
Directions

 
Sauté chopped broccoli, mushrooms and onion in butter till tender. Salt and pepper lightly. Toss with wine.
 

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in ricotta/cottage cheese and sour cream.
 

Boil noodles in salted water till slightly underdone. Drain and butter.

 
Remove sautéed vegetables from pan to cheese mixture with a slotted spoon. Add noodles and either 1/4 cup bread crumbs or 2 T wheat germ. Mix everything.
 

 

Spread into buttered 9x13 baking pan.

 
Top with more breadcrumbs or wheat germ and grated cheddar.
 

Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350.

 
Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.
 

My Notes:

The recipe wasn't really clear on the amount of broccoli, so I chopped up two large broccoli heads and later held  a bunch back, as it was way too much. 

I used baby Bella mushrooms; and added a clove of chopped garlic and some Trader Joe's truffle powder seasoning to the vegetable mixture.

I used a combination of butter and olive oil for the vegetables. 

I used ricotta cheese. 

I used Italian breadcrumbs. 

I added more cheddar cheese to the topping, as one cup really didn't cover the entire dish.

Overall, this was very good. 

You can add cooked grilled chicken to the mixture for added protein. 

  

Lemony Dressing

 Recipe from Cheryl Noll, 15 July 2023 

Cheryl made a delicious pasta salad with a wonderful dressing for our recent book club: 

As requested, here is the recipe for the pasta salad lemony dressing. Use on your favorite salad! Enjoy!

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C white balsamic

3 T. fresh lemon juice

Minced garlic (to taste)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Notes:

Her pasta salad included pearl mozzarella, tomatoes, orecchiette pasta, and lots of fresh basil - like a Caprese salad with pasta.

Here's a link to a caprese salad recipe that you can make, along with Chery's dressing:

https://www.simplyscratch.com/caprese-pasta-salad-2/

Italian Wedding Soup

 For a recent Cookbook Club dinner, 26 June 2023, one person made this soup. This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook.

Ingredients
 
For the meatballs:

3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
For the soup:

2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed
 
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
 
In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.
 

Mushroom Tortellini

 

Mushrooms tortellini with vegetables and a red pesto sauce.

Serves 1
 
I boiled water in a medium pot and cooked the tortellini with some salt.
 
Meanwhile, I sautéed one chopped garlic, some red onion, a few quartered cherry tomatoes and diced yellow pepper in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Once cooked, I turned off the heat.
 
I drained the pasta and placed it into a bowl.
 
I added the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of red pesto sauce (store bought) and tossed to coat the tortellini. I topped with a little Feta cheese and Parmesan cheese; and fresh basil.