Goat Cheese Filling For Ravioli Recipes

HOMEMADE RAVIOLI WITH GOAT CHEESE AND SPINACH FILLING

Steps:

• Mix flour with salt.
• Stir water with egg until well mixed.
• In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated. Sprinke some flour over working surface and over your hands as you knead the dough. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. It should not be too dry, either. Make the dough into a ball or disk, wrap with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work.
• This amount of dough enough to make dough for 12 raviolis, using the mold (ravioli mold makes 12 ravioli). If you need to make 24 ravioli, make a second batch of this dough.
• If you don't have cooked spinach on hand, cook spinach until wilted and all liquid is gone. All liquid should be evaporated - it's important. Chop spinach.
• Soften goat cheese by heating it up in microwave oven for about 5-10 seconds.
• Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl: chopped spinach, goat cheese, Parmesan cheese. Add a little bit of nutmeg to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Your filling should not be runny, it should be pretty firm, which is why it's important to make sure spinach has no liquid from step 1. If your filling is a bit runny from softened cheese, put the bowl with ravioli filling in the refrigerator to firm up.
• Unwrap ravioli dough from plastic, divide in 2 equal parts. Flour working area. Roll out each part of pasta dough very thinly, on a floured surface, using a roller. Make sure to flour the upper portion of pasta dough and the roller to avoid sticking. Lift the rolled dough several times during rolling to make sure it doesn't stick to the counter, and flour working surface with more flour, if necessary.
• Flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place first layer of dough on the ravioli mold, so that it covers all 12 holes.
• Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place second layer of pasta dough on top of filled ravioli.
• Using a roller pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all air from ravioli, which is very important for ravioli success. By now you should have extra dough hanging off the outside 4 edges of ravioli mold - carefully separate it. Continue rolling the pin along the inside edges of 12 raviolis to separate them from one another: you could also use your fingers to press across the edges to separate ravioli.
• Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli. Bring a large pot of water to boil Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside - to be used with sauce below.
• Or, alternatively, if you're not using ravioli right away, place them on a plate or baking sheet in the freezer to freeze. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, a bit of nutmeg and cook for about 7 minutes until mushrooms soften and garlic is fragrant.
• Add half-and-half, bring to boil. Remove from heat, add grated parmesan cheese, mix until cheese is melted and mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• After you have boiled ravioli for 5 minutes, drain them and add ravioli to the sauce to coat. To serve, place ravioli and sauce on plates. Garnish with with chopped chives or leeks.

GOAT CHEESE FILLING FOR RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Put the goat cheese, ricotta, salt, pepper, cream, chives and egg yolk in a mixing bowl. Blend well.
• When ready to use the filling, scoop out about one and one-half teaspoons of the mixture, and roll into a ball. There should be about 32 balls in all. Fill the rolled-out pasta dough. When the ravioli are cooked, serve with tomato sauce. Serve four or more portions as an appetizer. Serve eight to 10 portions as a main course.

PEA AND GOAT CHEESE STUFFED RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the dough: Mound the flour on a clean, dry work surface and make a big hole in the center of the pile. Crack the eggs into the hole along with the extra yolks, olive oil, water and some salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs. Incorporate the flour, a little at a time, into the egg mixture, being careful not to break the well (or the egg mixture will run everywhere). When enough flour is incorporated that you can handle the dough, use your hands to combine everything really well. (If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands a bit.) When the mixture is homogeneous, start kneading. Knead until the dough is smooth and supple, anywhere from 8 to15 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for at least an hour.
• For the ravioli: In a food processor, pulse the peas to make a coarse paste. Mix the pea paste, goat cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano and eggs in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
• With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into sheets about 1/4-inch thick and 12 inches long, using extra flour as needed to prevent sticking,. (Reserve the excess dough for another use.) Brush the bottom half of the pasta sheets lightly with water.
• Fill a disposable pastry bag (or a resealable bag with one corner snipped) with the pea mixture. Pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta about 1 1/2-inches apart on the bottom half of the pasta sheets. Fold the top half of the pasta sheets over the filling so the top edges meet the bottom edges. Use your index fingers to press around the filling and seal the edges shut. Use a fluted ring cutter or fluted pasta roller to cut out the ravioli. Place the ravioli on a semolina-dusted baking sheet.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Heat the chicken stock and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; season with salt.
• Add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook until they float to the top, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the ravioli to the sauce and cook, shaking the pan frequently, until the sauce begins to thicken and cling to the pasta, a few minutes. (If the sauce seems too thick, add a bit more stock.) Place five ravioli on each serving plate, spoon a little extra sauce on top and garnish with pea tendrils, sugar snap peas and mint. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

BEET AND GOAT CHEESE RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Individually wrap beets, onion, and head of garlic in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until beets are fork-tender, about 1 hour depending on size. Remove garlic once soft, after about 30 minutes. Allow beets, onion, and garlic to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, prepare the dough. In a large bowl, mix together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add in eggs. Gradually add in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together (more water may be needed depending on how dry your dough is).
• Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Divide dough into 4 portions, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• For the filling: Peel skin off beets, onion, and 3 cloves of the roasted garlic. Reserve the rest of the garlic for another use. Cut beets in half, and place them in a food processor. Add onion and garlic cloves; pulse until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. Add in 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon fresh dill, and 4 ounces goat cheese; pulse several times until thoroughly combined.
• Remove 1 piece of chilled dough from the fridge. Shape into a rough rectangle about 3x4 inches. Set pasta maker to the widest setting, and run dough through 3 times. Reduce pasta width setting to the next narrowest setting, and run pasta through twice. Continue to run pasta through pasta maker, dropping the width each time, until about 1/16-inch-thick. Cover pasta sheet with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Repeat with additional pieces of pasta dough, as needed.
• Lay one sheet of pasta on your work surface. Scoop teaspoon-sized portions of beet filling onto the dough about 3 inches apart. Lightly brush water around the edges of the filling. Gently place another sheet of pasta over the filling and press pieces together around the filling, removing as much air as possible. Seal firmly.
• Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut raviolis from the dough, ensuring the filling is as centered as possible. Gently press edges again to seal. Place finished ravioli on a lightly floured baking sheet. Continue making pasta and filling raviolis until all the beet filling is used. Reserve any extra dough for another use.
• When ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add a few ravioli at a time to the boiling water. Boil until they rise to the top, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a second saucepan over medium heat. Add a few ravioli at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Flip over and cook an additional 2 minutes.

SPINACH, GOAT CHEESE AND HERB RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Liberally season with salt.
• While the water comes to a boil, heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Drizzle in the olive oil and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach in batches, stirring to wilt, before adding more. Once all of the spinach is added, season with salt and pepper and cook until wilted and you no longer see any liquid in the skillet, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the goat cheese, Parmesan, chopped basil and parsley. Stir together until thick and creamy. Scoop the filling into a medium bowl.
• Fill a small bowl with water. Place 1 gyoza wrapper on a clean work surface and add 1 tablespoon of the spinach filling to the center. Dab a finger in the bowl of water and run it around the edge of the wrapper. Top with another wrapper and press around the edges to seal the ravioli, pushing out any air bubbles. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling to make a total of 10 ravioli.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the butter and cook until you see little brown bits on the bottom and it smells nutty, 3 to 4 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.
• While the butter browns, add 5 ravioli at a time to the pot and boil for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the cooked ravioli to the brown butter. Spoon the brown butter over the ravioli. Repeat with the remaining 5 ravioli.
• For each serving, spoon some of the ravioli into a shallow dish and drizzle with the brown butter. Finish with a sprinkling of Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few basil leaves.