Because I didn't get enough time in the kitchen yesterday, or why it's good to be my friend.

Last night, I hijacked the kitchen of dear friends, J&L. They bought a house about a year ago with a really nice, spacious kitchen. He also works for That Famous Kitchen Store you see at the mall, so their kitchen is stocked with at least one of every gadget, tool or appliance one could need, or at least that I could need. My kitchen on the other hand, is small, lacks storage, only has one sink and no dishwasher. On the bright side, it has more counter space than my last kitchen had...a whopping 12 inches. Can you say, "kitchen FAIL?"

I've been craving cioppino recently, but as I proved last night, it is impossible to make cioppino for one. For those unfamiliar, cioppino is an Italian influenced seafood stew from San Francisco, CA. In the late 1800s, in San Francisco the Italian fisherman created this dish from their catch of the day and a tomato and wine sauce. It can be served over or with pasta. It prefer it with bread. If you go to Italy and try to order cioppino, they will think you are crazy. It's not an Italian dish.

There aren't many rules for cioppino, except for the whole seafood, white wine and tomatoes thing. Last night, I used a Three Buck Chuck white wine, a can and a half of crushed tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes, two fennel bulbs, garlic, an onion, leeks, lemon juice, parsley, basil, mussels, clams, cod, scallops, and shrimp. I cooked it in a 7qt. Le Creuset Dutch Oven. The pot was full almost to the top! It was served with the bread I made in class yesterday. It was delicious.

Before


After

Fall Harvest Ravioli

This was inspired by a pack of mixed mushrooms at the Kroger. I saw them and instantly thought "ravioli!" As usual, the end result is far different from what I pictured, but very tasty all the same.

4 oz. mixed mushrooms I used oyster, shiitake, and white button
1 small apple, peeled
1 small fennel bulb
1/4 cup red onion
2 cloves garlic
12-15 fresh sage leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
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1 egg
15 oz. whole milk ricotta
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
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1 package small wonton wrappers


Rough chop all ingredients. Don't worry how it looks, you're going to whiz it up in the food processor when it's cooked. Saute until soft, transfer to food processor and puree until fairly smooth. Mix egg, ricotta, salt and pepper together in bowl. Add mushroom mixture and mix well.

Lay out wonton wrappers on cutting board, working with a few at a time so they don't dry out. Place about a tablespoon of filling on a wonton square. Wet the sides of wonton and top with a second square. Press out air and press edges well to seal. Repeat untill all filling is used.

In pot of salty water, boil ravioli until they float to top. Drain and serve with sauce of choice.


Notes:

The filling has a delicate flavor, so I am imagining this served with a light sauce, like a white wine cream or a slightly thickened vegetable broth. I think it would be lost to a red sauce or a heavy alfredo.

I think I used a Gala apple. I bought a bag of apples for lunches and tossed out the bag when I brought them home. Use an "eating" apple rather than a "cooking" apple. In other words, stay away from Granny Smith or any other tart apple.

Even for those watching their weight, use the whole milk ricotta. It doesn't have that much more fat or calories than the skim milk variety but it does have a better flavor.

If you are adding the mushroom mix to the ricotta and egg while still hot, be sure to mix the egg and ricotta very well. You don't want scrambled egg ravioli. Well, maybe you do, but not here.

When making ravioli, you want the filling to be pretty smooth so that nothing pokes out of the pasta.

If you want to make your own pasta dough for this, knock yourself out. Me? I couldn't be bothered tonight. I feel okay with using the wonton wrappers since Giada did it on her show a couple weeks ago. If she says it's okay, then it's okay.