Shiitake and Goat Cheese Ravioli

I hope this is easily read, but, as a preface - I wanted to put this recipe out here as an alternative to the stepped-up-ramen recipes that this site so often puts up for folks who might be a bit low on pocket change, but still want to eat well.

As a counterpoint, I'd like to suggest Ravioli.

OVERVIEW

(If you're looking for just a recipe - see below)

Thing about Ravioli is that, for the broke, it's actually a remarkably affordable meal to make, not just because you can make it with ANY ingredients (try African peanut butter ravioli if you're curious), but because it fits the four points of perfect frugal food:

1. It's filling
2. It freezes very well
3. It's cheap
4. It's easy to make en masse

With that in mind, it really doesn't take anything other than a small cup and a rolling pin to make. So lets's analyze ravioli?

Ravioli breaks down to two components: Dough and Filling

• Dough - Like all pasta doughs, ravioli dough is pretty easy to make, and, providing you get a feel for the stuff, pretty easy to tinker with. I'm a big fan of the NYT Basic Ravioli Dough recipe - mostly because it has a high fat content, and can take a great beating without working into anything too tough. (more on this below). The basic rule to follow is that dough is 1. Mixed, 2. Rested, 3. Kneaded, and 4. Rolled.

• Filling - The best part about Ravioli is that you can put just about anything you want into the dough, including leftovers! This means that that leftover taco meat, the stuff that might only may have a few days left in the fridge, can be now transformed into a meal to be eaten a month later! That meatloaf? Same thing! Any raw ingredients you have that might spoil before usage? Make a filling! The main rule of thumb is that, whatever you're using, make sure it's not too wet. Wet filling compromises the dough, and compromised dough is a recipe for disaster.

In addition to extending the shelf life of ingredients you have on hand, fillings are also easily made with whatever you see on sale! For example - my local grocery has a small section in their cheese isle, where they discard smaller cuts of more expensive cheeses all for under $5.00. If I see a good cheese, I'll grab the little wedge, and pick up something else, something complementary (say a cheap cut of meat, some veg, etc.) and get cracking. (my roasted corn, prosciutto, and caramelized leek ravioli made ten servings and cost six dollars).

For fillings - I say be random, but try to connect the flavors. You're going to get some failed experiments, and that's OK! That's the fun of learning.

What is terribly helpful in making fillings is to use a food processor - you're going for similar consistencies, and fillings-as-pastes tend to be a lot easier to handle. To wit - Try to make sure your filling is:

1. Cooked - no raw meats, and preferably no raw veggies
2. Uniform - meat grinders/food processors, or just really diligent chopping produces an overall nicer texture, but also makes filling the dough much easier.
3. Cooled - working with hot filling is messy, and frankly a bit annoying. Cooler items are firmer, and will move less when you're pressing.
4. Dried - this is perhaps the most important piece - WET FILLING RUINS DOUGH.

Follow these tenants - and you're gonna eat like a champ!

RECIPE

Goat Cheese and Shiitake Filling

This is a pretty basic, but expensive sounding recipe, that I culled together on a whim. It takes about an hour to make enough to feed you for ten meals - the total cost for me was bout $10.00.

Dough - Follow the Recipe linked above - What you'll need is:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks (save the whites!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the dry ingredients, then the wet seperately, then fold together and wrap tightly in a disk, let sit in the fridge for an hour or so while you prep, your filling!

Filling

• 2-3 c. Shiitake Mushrooms (or cremini, whatever's cheapest) - roughly broken apart.
• 1 Shallot - finely diced (note - never buy the pre-bagged, they're absurdly overpriced)
• 2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• Bit of white wine (if you have it)
• 8 oz goat cheese (you can swap for anything dry & firm, if you like - just shoot for whatever's cheapest!)
• Few sprigs fresh thyme

Steps -

1. Into a medium high heated pan, add some olive oil, butter, garlic and shallot - let sauté until fragrant and translucent lightly deglaze with a splash of white wine.

2. Add mushrooms and toss to coat, cover and let cook for a few minutes, just until they start to soften, but not before they render down.

3. Remove from heat, allow to cool.

4. Scramble egg whites from above, with salt and pepper, a bit of dijon mustard.

5. Add Mushrooms, Dijon, Goat Cheese, Eggs and Thyme to food processor and pulse until a nice consistency.

6. Transfer work bowl to the fridge and allow the filling to firm up and chill.

7. Roll out dough in accordance with above recipe

8. Add 1/2tsp spoon fulls of filling and crimp dough with a shot glass, saving the excess dough trimmings to re-roll into more sheeting.

Freeze and eat whenever!

submitted by /u/SpiffySpacemanSpiff
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