pumpkin & goats cheese ravioli with spinach sauce

This one goes out to all my vegetarian friends.

I understand and appreciate why vegetarians steer clear of chomping down on a chop but I really like chops and all other forms of meat (except for duck, eating ducks should be illegal). I believe that if you are a meat eater you should educate yourself on the processes used to deliver the meat in the nice little packages you find lining the supermarket fridges. When possible I purchase free range/organic/sustainable meat to try and ensure that the animal has had a better life and the impact on the environment is decreased.

Anyways, who needs to be a meat eater when you can chow down on these delicious little packages!

1 1/2 cups of pumpkin, cut into 1cm cubes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
40 grams of goats cheese
1 packet of wonton or gow gee wrappers (freeze any that you do not use)
1/4 cup of liquid vegetable stock
4 cubes of frozen spinach, approximately 85 grams
1/4 cup of extra light cream
1 sprig of fresh thyme, stems removed
S&P

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Mix the cubed pumpkin and olive oil together on your baking tray and bake for around 30 minutes, or until nicely golden and soft (you can also roast your pumpkin the day before to save on time, just cover and refrigerate until needed). Let your pumpkin cool and mash together with the goats cheese.

Separate a few of the wonton wrappers. I used 7 wrappers but you may need more or less. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin and goats cheese mixture on to the middle of the wonton wrappers until you have used all your mixture. Have a small dish of cold water ready and dip your finger into the water and then run your finger along the 2 top sides of your wonton wrapper. Bring the bottom corner up to the top corner and then carefully pinch the top edges together whilst also pushing out any air. You need to try and ensure all air is removed as when heated it can cause a blow out. You can leave in the shape of a triangle or you can bring the 2 side corners together and pinch them to hold in place. You now have your little raviolis, set them aside.


Melt the frozen spinach cubes in a pot with the vegetable stock until the cubes are completely defrosted. Add your cream, thyme leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook on a medium heat for around 3 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick to the pan. Taste your sauce as you may need to add more seasoning. Remove from the heat.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, ensuring there is sufficient water so that your little parcels can move around freely. Once boiling carefully pop your ravioli into the water and cook for about 2 minutes. Do not overcook these or they will become soggy and tear. The ravioli should be just cooked and the filling warmed. Drain your ravioli.

Put your sauce back on the heat for about 1 minute and carefully stir through your ravioli so sufficiently coated, slide into a bowl and enjoy whilst still hot.

sopressa, pea & asparagus pasta

Ah, the first scary post.

I am not usually a big pasta eater but I had a craving the other night for some comfort food but also something that was quite fresh.

2x lasagne sheets

1/2 bunch of asparagus

1/2 cup of peas

2x slices of sopressa, thinly sliced

1 eschallot, 

1/8 cup of light cream

Zest of 1/2 lemon and a slice to serve

5 balls of baby bocconcini

Dash of olive oil

S&P

Pinch of fresh oregano - optional

Dry fry the thinly sliced sopressa in a pan until crispy.  Remove and rest on a paper towel.  Cut the bottom 1/4 of the asparagus stalks off as these tend to be quite husky.  Slice remainder of asparagus into small pieces.  Blanch asparagus and peas in a pot together, strain and run under cold water to cease the cooking process.  Break up the lasagne sheets into small pieces, try to keep them the same size so that the cooking is kept even.  Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta, ensure you have enough water so that the pasta can move around freely and not get stuck together.  Saute eschallot in a medium heat pan with a dash of olive oil, add the drained peas and asparagus.  Whilst this is heating, sprinkle the pasta sheets into the boiling water (sprinkled so that the pasta does not clump together).  Add the lemon zest, cream, baby bocconcini balls and salt and pepper to the peas and asparagus.  Let the cream thicken a little so that it will coat the pasta sufficiently.  Check your pasta, it should be al dente, if so drain and add to the pan with the sauce.  Remove pan from the heat.  Add the fresh oregano at this stage and stir the pasta until well coated, serve into a bowl, sprinkle on your crispy sopressa and squeeze your slice of lemon over the top.  Eat before it gets cold.