Romantic Dinner for 2! PART THREE: Homemade Ricotta Cheese, Pine Nut, and Spinach Stuffed Ravioli

These guys were my pride and joy of the evening. I have wanted to make my own ravioli for SO SO long now! I saved them for Valentine's Day! I have never been happier with something I've made than with these guys! I cheated and used Won Ton Wrappers instead of true pasta dough, but, it still counts, right? See what you think!

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped (And I mean FINELY)
1/2 pound baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
8 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Flour for dusting
1 (12-ounce) package won ton wrappers
1 egg, beaten with 1/2 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoons butter

For any of you who are unfamiliar with shallots, they look like this. VERY similar to onions. I ordered mine from myproduceguy.com. They deliver FRESH produce to your door! Very exciting. They gave us a dozen red roses for free just for ordering around Valentine's Day!

Here we go, hang on tight!

First, you want to saute your shallots in a large skillet in oil for about a minute over medium heat. Then, start adding your spinach in batches and let it wilt.

Unwilted:

 

Good to go:

  

Once all spinach is wilted, remove from heat and put into a medium-sized bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate it for 20 minutes.

Once cooled and ready, remove from refrigerator and place in a sieve. Squeeze all excess liquid out of the spinach leaves. If you don't have a sieve, then just take balls of it in your hands and squeeze out the liquid that way. Once dry, chop up the spinach, place it back into the bowl and mix with ricotta cheese, 6 T of pine nuts, 2 T Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Ta da! You have your ravioli filling. I wish you could smell this right now!

 

At this point, you want to lightly flour your counter, and lightly flour 2 baking sheets. Have your egg-wash mixture ready to go and a pastry brush (or clean paint brush) nearby.

Take your Won Ton Wrappers and lay about 6 out on your surface. Paint the edges with egg wash

 

Take a small spoon and scoop a drop of filling into the center of each wrapper

 

Take 6 new wrappers, and place them right over top. Seal the edges (Leaving no air bubbles inside) and place on your baking sheet Repeat until all wrappers are used up.

 

I had about a tray and a half, with lots of leftover filling. At this point, cover them with a damp towel and refrigerate until ready to cook. You can also freeze them at this stage, and then cook them right out of the freezer if you want to. 

I saved my leftover filling. I plan on stuffing it into some chicken next week. Check back to see how it goes :) 

About 2 hours later, I was ready to cook. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add raviolis. Stir GENTLY to keep them from sticking to each other. It would be okay to do them in batches if necessary.

Meanwhile, bring butter to a frothy simmer over low heat in a large skillet. As ravioli finish boiling, drop them into the butter. Once they are all in the skillet, add the remaining Parmesan and Pine Nuts. I added some salt and pepper here as well.

 

I heated up some plain pasta sauce to serve over top (and underneath) 

 

Sprinkle with some grated Parmean, serve, and enjoy. These were SO delicious!