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I’ve been in a saucy mood lately. You know, in the mood to make sauce! Since our garden is bursting with tomatoes it only made sense to make a fresh marinara. This means it’s time for another installment of our ‘garden-to-table’ feature!
I gathered Roma tomatoes for a few days and ended up with somewhere between 35 and 40 fruits. I picked some fresh basil, set aside a big onion, fresh garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and oregano. At the end I also add some red wine and tomato paste (not pictured).
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the whole tomatoes and cook for 1 minute (parboil a/k/a partially boiled). Drain in a colander and allow tomatoes to cool for a minute while preparing the other ingredients.
Chop the onion, garlic and fresh basil.
Peel the drained parboiled tomatoes and discard skins.
Place the peeled tomatoes in a blender and blend until smooth.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent.
Add the blended tomatoes to the pot with the onions.
Add the sugar …
… throw in the oregano…
… add the chopped fresh basil …
… and the salt and pepper. Stir until combined and simmer for about 2 hours. Then add a 6-ounce can of tomato paste and about 1/2 cup red wine as needed to thin the sauce.
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In blog world, I jumped right from making the sauce to making homemade ravioli. But in real time, I made the sauce the day before and refrigerated it until ready to use. Just pretend it all happened seamlessly 🙂
I did however, really make homemade ravioli which was a first for me. It was much easier than I thought and just as delicious as I hoped. For the filling you will need salt, pepper, cinnamon, eggs, grated Romano cheese, fresh Italian parsley and ricotta cheese.
First stir the filling ingredients together. Mix the ricotta cheese, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
Lightly whisk the eggs.
And add them to the ricotta.
Chop the parsley.
Add the Romano and mix it all together. Cover and refrigerate while preparing the pasta.
You’ll use salt, eggs, warm water and white unbleached flour for the pasta dough.
Sift the flour and salt together on a large board or counter top.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs. Using your hands break the yolks and beat eggs slightly. Combine the eggs and flour together adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
Knead the dough until smooth. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Cut the dough in half and roll out one piece on a floured surface until thin as possible.
Drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart all over the rolled out dough.
Roll out the other half of the dough and cover the other sheet with the ricotta dollops.
Using your fingers, gently press the dough between each dab of filling to seal. Cut ravioli into squares with a zig-zag pastry cutter or sharp knife. Allow the ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
Drop ravioli into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until dough is tender.
Remove cooked ravioli from pot with a slotted spoon and drain well.
Serve ravioli with your favorite sauce or this delicious homemade marinara!
Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese before serving.
Something about making it totally from scratch is magical. I appreciate every single bite and am amazed that it actually tastes great! Go figure 🙂
Homemade Marinara Sauce
35-40 fresh Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1 tablespoon oregano
1/4 cup sugar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
salt
fresh ground pepper
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
Parboil or blanch and peel the tomatoes. Mix the tomatoes in a blender until pureed. Set aside. In a large sauce pot heat the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute until limp. Add the tomato puree, basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for about two hours. Add the tomato paste and wine and stir until well blended. Bring to a simmer and serve with your favorite pasta or freeze for later use.
Homemade Ravioli
(adapted from a recipe on food.com)
Filling:
1 lb. ricotta cheese (drained if needed)
2 eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons fresh Italian flat left parsley, minced
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper
Mix together all filling ingredients, cover and refrigerate while preparing the pasta dough.
Dough:
3 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
Sift the flour and salt together. Place flour mixture on a board or counter top, making a well in the center of the flour. Add the eggs to the flour well and using your hands, beat eggs slightly. Combine the eggs and flour together. Gradually add enough warm water to make a stiff dough. Knead dough until smooth. Cover and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Cut the dough in half and roll each half on a floured board until very thin. Drop teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all over the rolled dough. Place the other half of the rolled dough over the dabs of filling mixtures. Using your fingers, gently press between each dab of filling to seal. Cut ravioli into squares with a zig-zag pastry cutter or a very sharp knife. Allow the ravioli to dry one hour before cooking. Drop ravioli into boiling salted water and cook for about 10-15 minutes. I cooked mine in three batches so the ravioli was not over crowded. Remove cooked ravioli from the pot carefully with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Serve with your favorite sauce and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
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Now wasn’t that fun!
I think I would like to get a pasta attachment for my new Kitchen Aid Mixer. Cooking is a creative blast! Hope you have some fun in the kitchen this week.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tricia
Amy J. and Tiffanie A. says
Sooo when are you coming to Atlanta to make this for me!?!??! <br /><br />We just started following you!! Cannot wait for more home cooking like this!!<br /><br />Love, <br /><br />http://www.chickswholovetoeat.blogspot.com/
blackbookkitchendiaries says
Nicely done my friend:) they look super delicious!! *swoon* thank you for sharing this lovely dish and have a great day.
Barefeet In The Kitchen says
This looks fantastic, Tricia! I'm impressed with all the steps and I bet it really did taste amazing.
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow says
After just returning from Italy, I KNOW the difference between store bought and fresh-made ravioli! Tastes like a whole different dish than store bought! AND, with the homegrown, homemade marinara sauce!! Oh, girl, I know all who got to eath this were most delighted. Yum! blessings ~ Tanna