Mushroom Ravioli and Warm Bacon Salad

Ok the follow up mushroom post, like I promised. Woohoo. Actually it was really good. Really, really good. Somewhat labor intensive though. So J and I had to break up the work. I texted him from work to make the pasta up and sauté the mushrooms. So he got his recipe for the pasta from here. I must say it was pretty good and it put the pasta maker to work when I got home. Now this is the first time Ive made ravioli so it was pretty.... uh... rustic. I recommend a ravioli press I think, but doing it by hand will work, they are just gonna be funny shapes (at least mine were).

For the filling:

Call your significant other at home and ask them to sauté two cups of sliced mushrooms, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp olive oil, one clove garlic, and salt and pepper until reduced by half in size. Have them pull it off and let it cool. Now when you get home throw those mushrooms into a food processor. Add 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese, 1 egg yolk (I used the egg white for an egg wash to make the ravioli stick together), 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese, and a little more salt and pepper. Pulse until well blended. 

I ran my pasta dough through my pasta maker until it hit level 6. I would probably only go up to 3 or four next time since I think I made it a bit to thin. I took each sheet, laid it out, put my filling down (about a tablespoon) about 2 inches apart. I put an egg wash surrounding each piece of filling and topped with another layer of pasta. Press together firmly and then cut into individual pieces. This took a while, and I got about 15 ravioli from it. Big ones. I was full afterward. I then cooked them up in boiling water for about 3 minutes and put them in a sauce made of olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, and grated cheese. I'm sorry but I didn't measure these. Thats my fault :-( 

For the salad:

Now you cant live on pasta alone. Sadly. So we made a salad. Now I've made this before and J liked it so much he actually put it on his blog here. He has a good blog. You should read it. But for those who don't want the extra click,  well I copied it to here. I made it. Twice. I think I'm allowed ;-)

Warm Maple Bacon Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 strips of Bacon, cooked, crumbled and bacon fat reserved
• 1/3 cup Real Maple Syrup
• 3 tablespoons Country Dijon Mustard
• 2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 Shallot, finely diced
• 1 package of fresh spinach
• 1 small Honeycrisp Apple, sliced
• 1/4 cup Pecan Halves
• 1/4 cup Asiago Cheese, or more to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper into a small bowl or jar and set aside.
2. Toss together the spinach, sliced apples, pecans, cheese, and crumbled bacon.
3. Reheat the bacon fat over medium/ medium-high heat.
4. Sauté diced shallot until softened. 
5. While whisking, gradually add in the jar of maple/mustard mixture. 
6. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
7. Plate up the salads and serve the warm maple bacon dressing drizzled over the top.

So thats dinner. And lunch. Hooray for leftovers!

Enjoy :)