Turkey Tetrazzini alla Casa

My philosophy of cooking is that a recipe is merely a suggestion. 

Most everything I cook is del giorno (or d'jour for you French chefs) based on what I have on hand. Or alla Casa - the way I do it at my house.

We recently had Turkey Tetrazzini at a friends' home and it was delicious.  As I had leftover turkey from Christmas dinner, I figured I'd give it a try...sort of. I looked up recipes on the web. Ok, well, I use those as suggestions.

So I got a pot boiling for the fettuccine (had no egg noodles) and put some broccoli in the microwave to cook al dente. (We eat a lot of broccoli).

I just happened to have about a half pound of Baby Bella mushrooms (small Portabellas) so I sliced them up and put them into my cast iron skillet along with a sliced onion and two chopped cloves of garlic and plenty of olive oil. 

I also happened to have one small eggplant (I recalled Pasta alla Norma). So that got peeled, diced and sautéed in the skillet as well. As things got cooked to soft I added about two tablespoons of butter. (I never understand recipes that call for unsalted butter, then add salt) and let that melt into the mixture.

Olive oil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, eggplant

Then I added about two or three tablespoons of flour (I never measure) to coat the veggies and absorb the butter like doing a roux. I looked for an open bottle of white wine, alas I only had a little dry vermouth, about two fingers left in the bottle, so that got added and mixed in to begin the sauce. Then a large splash of 2% milk (cream is way too heavy for me). The sauce thickened. Added pieces of turkey meat to heat in the sauce.

We had a little take-out container of sour cream in the fridge, about three tablespoons, and that went in along with some more milk to thin the sauce as it was thickening.

I had about 1/3 of a container of ricotta cheese, so that too went into the sauce. A little salt and pepper and finally Turned off the heat and added a few tablespoons of grated parmigiano (or was that Romano cheese that I grated last week?)

Butter, Flour, Vermouth, Sour Cream, Milk, Ricotta

When the pasta was al dente I drained it over the broccoli in a large colander (to re-warm the broccoli) and returned it to the pot. I spooned the Tetrazzini sauce over it and tossed it well.

DINNER'S READY! 

More grated cheese at the table and Leon and I pigged out. Found some white wine in the garage (where it is cool).

I think we both went for thirds tonight. 

Served with Fettuccine and Broccoli

Homemade Ravioli

Have been wanting to make ravioli for some time and finally got motivated because I wanted to bring something special to a friend who recently lost his partner of 21 years. This dish is about as special as I can make. Ravioli are two steps above Lasagna and a step above Manicotti. Because they are labor/time intensive.

First, make some tomato sauce.

Use some cooked chopped Swiss chard or spinach to mix in with the ricotta cheese along with a little parmigiano or romano. This Swiss chard came from the garden.

I made 2, 3-egg batches of dough using three eggs a pinch of salt and 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour for each batch. The amount of flour is more than is needed for the dough but is enough to make a crater for the eggs and enough so that as you incorporate the flour you reach a point where the dough just begins to come together.

Use a fork to mix the eggs into the flour. There will be flour left over when the dough comes together. It will be sticky and soft.

Work it with your hands adding flour and kneading for several minutes.  Divide the dough into smaller balls - about the size of an orange. Roll out one ball at a time, keeping the rest of the dough under a damp towel.

Using the old fashioned pasta machine, roll the dough into a very thin sheet. I use a long rolling pin (wooden dowel) and do the flip over technique to turn the dough over. Keep it lightly floured on both sides. It will stretch and not break under the pressure of the roller. Be patient, keep rolling until you get the desired thinness.

The flip: wrap the dough around the roller then unwrap it backwards/upside down. Roll it some more until the dough sheet is very thin. 1/8 inch or thinner. Mine could have been a tad thinner.

At this point you can make tagliatelle or fettuccine if you don't have fillings. To make ravioli...
Trim the dough sheet to a rectangle and divide into 2 smaller sheets (one slightly larger for the top).

Put about a teaspoon of ricotta filling onto the dough spacing the spoonfuls evenly.

 Brush the edges and the area between each mound with water.

Place the other half of the dough on top of the filling and press firmly around each mound of filling with  your fingers.

You can use a wooden spoon handle to make the edges of the ravioli pretty and uniform. Press firmly with the spoon handle.

Use a pastry cutter to divide the ravioli.

Place on a floured cookie sheet. If making ahead or making more than one meal, you can put all or some of them into the freezer for later use.

Clean up the mess. Don't throw out the scraps: trim them into pasta strips, then boil and top with butter or garlic/oil or sauce, or add to soup.

Cook the ravioli in salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce, butter or other sauce and grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano cheese. Wine is always a nice accompaniment.
Dinner's ready.

So scrumptious, I can almost taste that photo.