(Not Canned) Ravioli #LitHappens #FoodieReads

This month I invited the Lit Happens group in read The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride by Joe Siple. I don't know what brought that book to my suggestions list, but I am glad that I read it and suggested to the readers.

On the Page

Murray McBride, a long-retired Major Leaguer, has just turned 100 years old and he has outlived his wife and even his child. He tells his doctor that he plans to stop taking the medication that keeps him alive, but then he meets Jason Cashman, a 10 year old with a terminal heart defect.

Murray helps Jason write a list of five things he wants to do. "Five Things I want to do Before My Heart Dies and I go to Heaven 1. Kiss a girl (on the lips); 2.Hit a home run in a major league baseball stadium; 3.Be a Superhero; 4.Find a Nice Boyfriend for Mom; 5. Do real magic. By the amazing Jason Cashman" (pg. 13). Then they race against time to tick off the wishes one by one.

This was an uplifting novel in which I adored every character! And though there wasn't a lot of food on the pages, I was still inspired into the kitchen by this passage from page 15...

I’ve been awake for a good seven hours and I’m hungry, so I treat myself to a birthday lunch of stove-warmed Chef Boyardee. Course, that’s all I eat anymore. Just a matter of whether it’s ravioli or spaghetti. Today, I go with ravioli.

Chef Boyardee

Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm jokingly asked if I planned to open a can of ravioi. Ummm...no. I have never actually had Chef Boyardee, but I loved finding the article "The Man, The Can: Recipes Of The Real Chef Boyardee" on NPR. Chef Boyardee was a real person - Ettore "Hector" Boiardi (how it was really spelled) - who founded the company with his brothers in 1928, after their family immigrated to America from Italy.

You can certainly buy ravioli, but I find rolling pasta very relaxing. And I wanted to use some lamb sausage that I had from a local producer.

(Not Canned) Ravioli

Filling

• 1 pound lamb sausage without casing

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• 1/2 small onion, minced (approximately 1/4 cup)

• 1 cup ricotta cheese

• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1 egg yolk

• freshly ground salt

• freshly ground pepper

Ravioli

• laminated dough (see this post)

• Also needed: flour, water in a spray bottle, ravioli cutter

Sauce

• 1/2 cup morels (I used dried mushrooms and rehydrated them in hot water)

• 2 Tablespoons butter

• 2 Tablespoons diced shallots or onions

• 1 cup white wine

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup grated cheese (I used Asiago)

Filling

Heat butter in a small skillet. Add onions and cook until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the sausage. Cook until sausage is completely browned. Salt to taste and cook for another minute.

Transfer sausage mixture to a medium mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Set aside.

Ravioli

Roll the dough as thin as you possibly can if you are using a rolling pin or to a 5 or 6 on a pasta machine.

Lay the dough on a floured surface or parchment paper. Place a mound of filling on the dough and spray the entire surface with water. Lay another rolled dough over the top. Press out any extra air to create a seal around the filling.

Using a ravioli cutter, cut around the filling carefully. Place the finished ravioli on a floured parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all of the dough or all of the filling has been used.

To cook these: drop them into salted, boiling water. Cook for four to five minutes. Gently remove them from the pot and fold them into a sauce.

Sauce

Rehydrate your morels in hot water, drain, but reserve the soaking liquid if needed to thin the sauce. Slice the mushrooms in half.

Melt butter in large flat-bottom pan or skillet. Stir in the shallots and cook until softened an beginning to turn translucent. Add in the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.

Pour in the wine and cream. Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Fold in the cheese and stir until melted and smooth.

To serve, spoon the cooked ravioli into the sauce and toss to coat. Spoon into individual serving bowls and serve immediately.

In addition to sharing this with #LitHappens, I am adding this to the February 2025 #FoodieReads Link-Up.