Heart and Dove Shaped Pasta w/ Chicken Soup

 Heart and Dove Shaped Pasta with Chicken Soup

Christmas and New Years have come and gone.  Every year it sneaks up and is over in a blink of an eye. Chris and I traveled to New York again to spend the holidays with family.  This year was different since we were traveling with Miss Rosalie who is now 8 1/2 months old.  She did fantastic with the car ride and being passed around, it was just the whole sleeping part. I think the excitement of the gifts and family and her 1st cold played a part. Finally at home, she is sleeping much better, although I think I have caught her cold.  Nothing horrible, but just enough to want to curl up on the couch and eat soup.  So I scoped out my freezer and found turkey broth, a whole chicken, and carrots from the garden. Instead of doing noodles that are tough to slurp up, I thought it would be fun to try out new shapes. Grab your favorite cookie cutter and get stampin'!

Pasta Noodles

Ingredients:
2 eggs (local farm)
1/2 salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cups of Organic Bread Flour (Westport, NY)

Directions:
Mix together ingredients in your Kitchen Aid mixer, but don't add in all the flour just yet. I typically start out using the flat beater and once all the dough is incorporated I switch over to the dough hook. Add enough flour for the dough to be soft, but not sticky. Lastly I will finish kneading it by hand to get the best consistency. Make sure not to over knead it, otherwise it will be tough and not int a good way. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stick it in your fridge for at least 1/2 hr.
Take out your dough and run it through your pasta maker. Once you get it to your desired thinness (~ number 5), select your favorite cookie cutter shape. Cut out the pasta and lay on a cooling rack to dry(~30 minutes). Boil some water with salt (so your water boils faster) and olive oil (so the pasta doesn't stick together) and throw your pasta in. It should only take about 3-5 minutes to cook. You can see the color change from a yellowish to a whiter color. Remove pasta shapes and add to your favorite soup.

 

 Chicken Soup
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (Chestnut Farms Hardwick, MA)
3-4 carrots (frozen from our garden)
 4-6 cups of Turkey Stock (from a local turkey Oakham, MA)
Salt to taste
Spices to taste

Directions:
Roast Chicken at 350 F for 40 minutes (depending on size). Cut into pieces and add to turkey stock and carrots. Add salt, spices, and pasta noodles.

Squash Ravioli w/ Sage Butter Cream Sauce

I know I'm a bit behind, but that wicked October snow storm knocked us out of power for five days. We are fortunate to have a wood stove so Miss Rosalie would not be too chilly.  Even without power we are stubborn enough to cook (thank you gas stove).  We made pizza and potato wedges for dinner one night.  The storm brought 18" of snow and luckily our neighbor lent us his smaller generator. Chris made a snow fridge to keep our food cold and the chest freezer remained frozen as long as our generator ran every so often.  Central, MA has been kicked around by mother nature really recently- tornadoes, hurricanes, and early snowstorms (snow days in October?), so we are overdue to purchase our own generator that can run at least our well, freezer, boiler, and a few other amenities. 
Anyway back to the recipe.

Squash Ravioli w/ Sage Butter Cream Sauce 

Ingredients:
Your favorite squash
1-2 eggs
Ricotta Cheese
Parm Cheese
Homemade Pasta
Cream
Butter
Sage
Flour/Corn Starch
Salt

Directions:
Take your favorite kind of squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, etc..) cut it in half, scoop out the seeds (save these), place upside down on a pan w/water and roast it at 350 F until soft.  Scoop out the squash once it has cooled a bit and puree it in a food processor.
Next add in 1 or 2 eggs, 1 cup or so of Ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of Parm, and some cream until you get a nice consistency- not too watery, not too thick.
Roll out your pasta (see pasta recipe on previous post) to nice thin sheets ( I go to number 5 on my pasta machine).
Add a teaspoon of you squash mixture onto the pasta sheets going down the line. I typically will fold it over and cut them into nice squares.
Make sure to press the pasta down around the pocket to seal in the squash. Use a fork to press around the edges. Then place the ravioli on a rack to dry (about 30 mins at least).
Get your water up to a boil (don't forget to add some salt to make it boil faster) and add in the ravioli.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes. You can see the past turning a lighter color.  Take out the pasta and place on a plate.

Sauce:
Melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. Next add in some sage (about 1 teaspoon).
Pour in some cream (1- 1 1/2 cups of cream) and bring to a simmer. Add a teaspoon of flour or corn starch to a separate cup with a tablespoon of water and mix together.  Combine with the sauce and continue to cook till thickened.

Serve the pasta with cream sauce and enjoy! I'll be posting some recipes soon on making your own Ricotta and Mozzarella.
****Squash Seeds**** Take your seeds, rinse off the squash gunk and place them in a bowl. Add olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and Franks Red Hot sauce. Place on a cookie sheet and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 F until crispy. Make sure to stir every so often.

Homemade Pasta w/Sun Dried Tomatoes, Leeks, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese

There is nothing better than homemade pasta, seriously. If you have never had it, well just prepare yourself if you ever do, you will become spoiled. I promise. Plus if you have a pasta roller it makes it much easier and faster.


Pasta Dough Recipe:
3 large eggs
pinch of salt
pour of olive oil ( ~ 2 tbsp)
1/2 cup of Semolina (Durham) Flour
1/2 cup of Bread Flour

I start out by mixing them together in my Kitchen Aid mixer and add more flour as needed. I finish kneading the dough by hand. I just find it gives me a better consistency. You are looking for a dough that is soft but doesn't stick to your fingers.
Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes minimum.

Then if you are lucky to have a pasta attachment for your Kitchen Aid (or some other pasta roller) it will save you time and energy. I typically roll my pasta out till a number 4,  I find it to be not too thick or thin.

Get your water to a boil and place your pasta in. Stir it a bit and keep an eye on it, it only needs about 5 minutes to cook or so. (Another benefit of homemade pasta- short cooking time.) You are looking for the color of the pasta to be lighter. 

Deliciousness Sauce
Saute leeks in a couple tablespoons of butter.
Then throw in some chopped up zucchini.
And some more butter (starting to feel like Julia Child).
Next add chopped artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes.
Then pour in some milk or cream or both, but enough to cover all the deliciousness.  I only used milk (whole milk) because I didn't have any cream. It all depends on how you feel about cream and what you have in your fridge. But it really tasted fantastic without the cream.
Next add 1 teaspoon of corn starch to some water in a cup and mix well, then add to the deliciousness.
Sprinkle some salt and let the sauce simmer till it thickens up a bit.

Serve over fresh pasta and you won't be disappointed. And most importantly, Sprinkle generous amounts of goat cheese on top. I love, love, love goat cheese.

Feel free to change up the combo of veggies for the sauce-use what you have and what you like.