Journal # 9: Pass that Pasta!

My first post for February! Yey! Enough celebration, let's talk food! :)

Ever since I had the time to cook, I've always wanted fresh everything. Freshly made pizza, bread, cookies, fresh everything! I've always wondered about how to make fresh pasta. I've watched Masterchef US people do it and it didn't seem difficult. I love pasta, BTW! 

Pasta is one of the best gifts the Italian people shared with the world! So here I am, going to share with you a recipe that I have tried and love! 

Here's a teaser first:

After maybe 1 1/2 hours of prep and cooking here's the result:

Looks good, right?

Okay, before I tell you what's inside those magical ravioli. Let's talk about how I made them.

Making the Ravioli
Once again, I used Laura Vitale's Pasta Dough recipe! I love watching her vids, it's really helpful and entertaining! Be sure to check out that link. 

Some helpful tips for newbies out there:

1. Be resourceful
Laura's recipe requires a food processor, however I don't have one and maybe I'm not planning on getting one. SO I just mixed them manually by hand, I just made sure the eggs were beaten prior to me mixing them. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed. 

Remember, you don't have to have all the fancy equipments those Chefs have, you just have to know what they do and you can try and copy that to your recipe. 

2. Be Patient. 
You have to chill it in the fridge for 30mins. So prepare the other ingredients for the filling and the sauce. 

To tell you it wasn't as EASY as I thought it would be. Flattening the dough without a pasta roller is tiring! It takes A LOT of time too!I am an impatient girl, so this was tough for me and I was getting hungry. LOL

I started with a rolling pin and just laid it on my counter like I would any other dough. So I rolled it out until it was maybe 1cm thick (about 10pcs of bond paper stacked). It took me literally 15 minutes to get it right. It was tough for me, cause the dough kept sticking on the rolling pin. So make sure you FLOUR it from time to time. If you over-flour it, the pasta will become really tough.

Then I used a dough cutter to get the shapes I wanted. I made a square and a round one. For your ease, you can use a set of cookie cutters for great looking ravioli. 

3. Well...actually...you should...Yeah, there's supposed to be a number 3, but I can't think of another one. Ha-ha! Hope those two suffice. 

Moving on to our recipe.

Filling the ravioli
I prepared 3 kinds of cheeses for my ravioli and some basil, spinach, garlic, and meat to go with it. 

Popeye's favorite:
1. 1/2 c. of Cottage Cheese: if they come in tubs, make sure to drain them prior to usage, so that the pasta won't be too wet. It would be difficult to seal them.
2. 1-2 tsps. of Fried Garlic Bits: You can buy them from the store or make them on your own, just don't burn them.
3. 10 pcs. Spinach Leaves: Now you see why Popeye likes this! :) Fresh and rinsed. You could alternate basil with these.
4. 1/2 tsp. White Pepper: 

Mighty Meat-y:
1. 1/2 c. cooked ground beef (seasoned with salt and pepper)
2. Goat's cheese: I love its mild flavor. :)


To make 10 Ravioli (Good for 2 persons)
You need: 1/3 of the Pasta dough recipe + One of the filling recipes above.
Cook the ravioli in boiling water with salt and oil for about 8-10 minutes. Check the consistency of the pasta at 8mins. (cooking time depends on the thickness of the pasta you made.)

It's NOW time to make the dressing/sauce for it.

It was undeniably delicious!

For my family, I made some fresh pesto (from the basil and spinach leftovers) and some tomato sauce.

This picture really makes me hungry. Don't tell me that you didn't salivate over that because I know you did!

Use your favorite red sauce recipe, the one that you normally use for spaghetti.

Here's what the fresh pesto with ravioli looks like.

Vegetarian version: Pesto dressing and Spinach filled Ravioli

This pesto is just olive oil, basil, spinach and a bit of salt. Just use a hand held blender and mix em up until you get the right consistency and flavor. Don't over blend it. It might become paste. :))

Over all, my family and boyfriend, oh and my sister's "friend" enjoyed the wonderful meal!


Fresh pasta really tastes different from the ready made ones. I don't know, maybe it's just psychological but so what! It's better cause it was made by me with lots o love and nothing beats that! Ha ha!

Hope you enjoyed reading! God bless! :)

Journal # 8: Je t'aime Pizza!

I am a pizza lover and who isn't? right? It's the one thing that I could eat for everyday and not get satiated. It is no surprise to know that pizza is made and served in every country in the world.

I found Laura Vitale in youtube and watched her video on how to make pizza dough and it's just wonderful! I never thought making pizza dough would be this easy! Really! Even newbies can try making it and not fail. 

I just used the dough for this recipe and the rest of the stuff are mine. 

Just a tip: when using recipes with yeast, an envelope/packet means 2 1/4 tsp. of yeast. Don't put in the yeast in the water if it is not the right temperature! It will kill the yeast and won't let your dough rise. Total disaster!

Also, when I made her recipe, I think it had too little salt in it. So I doubled the salt from 1 tsp. to 2 tsps. 

Make sure to follow her instructions strictly (except for the tweak I made) and use this for your tomato sauce

Pizza Sauce:
1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce
6cloves garlic
2 tsps. Italian Seasoning (if you don't have any, dried basil leaves will do)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

This will be good enough for the dough you made. Use a garlic press to crush the garlic really fine. Add it and the rest of the ingredients to the tomato sauce. 

Don't make it too salty because the cheese (any kind) will help with the saltiness.

I used sliced ham, green olives, mozzarella, cheddar and goat's cheese for the toppings. It turned out really well.

Then bake it for 17-20mins. at 375F. 

Voila! You are now an official pizza maker! Be sure to keep her dough recipe! It's just wonderful! But I'll try out some other recipes, maybe there is something even better!

Journal #4: The Burger Queen

Read the title again with a Darth Vader voice. I think it's creepy sounding. HAHA

Anyway, about 2 days before our cousin, Gaile, left for CdO, I decided to make burger patties! I used the recipe in BBC. I forgot the title and link (maybe find it and attach later) but it was easy and delicious! A very easy recipe for a burger that you could easily alter to suit you and your family's tastes!

Mixy, mixy, mixy!

It only requires ground beef, eggs, flour, seasonings, bbq sauce, garlic, onions, and a little tomato sauce. I think that's about it! :) You just mix them all together by hand or by a wooden spoon. I did mine by hand. It was a bit icky. It'll turn out like this.

I don't remember the exact measurements but you only need about 1/2 kg. of ground pork or beef. For my burger patties, I used pork since we didn't have any beef around. Make sure you taste a little portion (cooked) of it. To ensure that it tastes awesome!

The lonely patty!

After mixing tutti ingredienti, I shaped my patties into flat circles. Again, You can do this by hand or by use of a spatula. I only made 3 circles then because there were only 3 of us in the house that time. I want my patties freshly cooked in every meal. 

I didn't think burger patties were so easy to make. I had fun making them. I'm getting hungry just thinking about making them last time. HAHA.

So, by this time, the grill that you will be using should already be preheated and sprayed/brushed with a little oil. The directions in the recipe claimed that I should fry it. But to make it less fatty and healthier I decided to grill them, less oil is better! :)

I used some flat silicone spatulas (the ones at the back of the uncooked patty)to transfer the patties and used them for cooking too! They made all of it easy! 

1, 2, 3, 4, don't put them in the fire that long!

Based on this picture, you can see how lovely and delicious looking they turned out to be!

The only problem with mine was, it was a tad salty. So be careful with how much spice you put in. I also added some secret ingredients to further suit our taste. :)

Cooking time wasn't specified at the recipe, so I suggest for Pork Patties: 3-4 minutes on each side, medium fire. Beef Patties: 4-5 minutes, medium fire. You should always check the patties after 1 minute, you don't want them burnt.

That is so delish!

I like my burger simple, so my sisters and cousin sliced some onions and tomatoes, prepared some fresh lettuce and sliced cheese. My favorite dressings are Mayonnaise and Mustard plus some pickle relish. My cousin, Gaile, cooked some fries for the side too. It was awesome!

I'd cook it again some time! I had some left over patties and I freezed them. Oh and I added lots of garlic and onions to the patty mixture, I love those flavors on my burger! 

Eat away! 


Signed, 

The Burger Queen
Ice :)