Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Maria's Spinach Ravioli and Giada's Lemon Ricotta Biscuits

I am sure many of you have visited Maria's blog, Two Peas and Their Pod. If you haven't, then go and check it out. Maria and her husband are always serving delicious, healthy meals and yummy desserts too. They have featured a couple of homemade pasta dishes that look absolutely too good for words. I decided to make their Spinach Cheese Ravioli, even though I don't have a pasta roller. This required alot of rolling out on my part and I still think that I didn't get the pasta quite thin enough, but it tasted amazing anyway! The filling was so yummy and easy. The sun was going down as I was making it so, I didn't get any pics of it cooked with the sauce and sure enough, there weren't any leftovers, but I did take a few when I was rolling out the pasta and cutting it. I just used a pizza roller to cut mine out because I don't have a ravioli cutter.
Maria also had a great recipe for Lemon Ricotta Biscuits on her blog, and since I had just 1/2 cup of ricotta left after making the ravioli, I decided to make a half batch of the biscuits, and make them in a mini-muffin tin. Yum!



For the recipe for the Spinach Cheese Ravioli go- HERE
Lemon Ricotta Biscuits Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar or more as needed for sprinkling
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese (I used skim)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds
Glaze:
Powdered Sugar
Lemon Zest
Lemon Juice
Whisk together in a bowl. Just eye ball the ingredients. If it is too thick add more juice!
Directions
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.
Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the almonds and then the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar over the muffins.
Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Coming Thursday- Craving Ellie's Roasted Ratatouille Tart and Barefoot Bloggers-Coq Au Vin

8 comments:

Marie Rayner said...

Oh gosh, that ravioli and those biscuits look soooo delicious. I haven't had breakfast yet and I am now wanting those!!

Prudy said...

I can't tell you the incredible craving I've had for ravioli of late. I also do not have a pasta stretcher and so I know what kind of work lays ahead of me if I want to make ravioli. My mom tells me that my Italian grandpa used to roll out the pasta on the kitchen table with a broom stick! I may have to resort to such methods.

Maria said...

Nice work!! I am impressed you did this all by hand! We cheat and use our pasta attachment for our Kitchenaid! Your ravioli looks wonderful!! Glad you tried it!! And I love the mini biscuits. Super cute!!

Cathy said...

There are no words for how much I want that ravioli right now.

Emily said...

I just want to blow your pictures up poster size and hang them in my kitchen . . . . . have a new one up each day! Your ravioli and biscuits look like a pure delight!

The Blonde Duck said...

I might be able to try this now...I'm so intimidated by making pasta!

Aggie said...

I love Maria's blog! Those raviolis look yum yum!!! I love spinach and cheese!

susan said...

Mmm, I love ravioli! but ive never had the homemade kind.. now i want some! :)