Monday Monday Veal and Mushroom Ravioli

Sometimes when I don't know what to cook, I find myself taking on a big project.  Today, I decided to break out the pasta roller and make some ravioli.  I found some 'veal for stew' at the market and decided to grind that along with some pancetta.  I love my Kitchen Aid Standing Mixer for many reasons... mostly for the excellent attachments it allows so you can transform it into more than just a mixer.  The meat grinder attachment has seen many purposes in our house.  I've made duck burgers, beef burgers, meatballs, and now ravioli filling with it.    
I made the pasta per Marcella Hazan's recipe (see earlier blog).  
For the filling, I browned the ground veal and pancetta and removed it from the pan.  Then, add a little olive oil and saute 2 minced garlic cloves until softened.  Add in chopped mushrooms.  Whatever you have will work fine.  I used a mixture of shiitake and crimini mushrooms.  Once the mushrooms are softened add the veal and pancetta back in and saute adding chopped sage, a splash of marsala and a bit of balsamic vinegar.  Remove from pan and let cool slightly.  Then add in grated parmesan and pecorino romano, ricotta and mascarpone cheese.  Set aside in refrigerator until ready to use.  
I filled the sheets of pasta with dollops of filling and used a rolling cutter to form into ravioli squares.

For the sauce, I had 3 roma tomatoes which I skinned and seeded and chopped finely.  To skin the tomatoes, make an 'x" at the bottom of the tomato and blanche in boiling water for about a minute.  The skin of the tomato will then peel off easily.  In a saucepan, I heated olive oil and minced garlic and tossed in the tomatoes.  Let simmer for a few minutes, and then puree in a blender.  Return to the pan and bring to a simmer adding a dollop of cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.
Boil the ravioli for about 3 minutes.  Ladle a bit of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a dish.  Top with with ravioli, some grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.  Truly delicious.  The sauce.... oh, the sauce...  so simple, yet so, well, perfect.  There was some tummy rubbing and some hopes there was more sauce.  My favorite was the texture of the pasta.. the elasticity, the bite, the give.  A gift.

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