Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs…and Homemade Ravioli.

Med school starts in t-minus 3.5 months which means it’s time to start cranking out all of those recipes I will never have time to make once I’m a med student. 

My latest undertaking? Homemade Italian wedding soup and two types of ravioli. The reason? Well, there are only a few things that surpass my love for meatballs and meatballs in a soup is just plain genius. As for the homemade ravioli, it's resume worthy. I'm exaggerating, but it is a project you can hang your hat on. I figured if I was going to go through all the trouble of making homemade pasta I might as well go wild and try two different recipes. I’m glad I did because I’m having a hard time deciding which one turned out better.

Ravioli recipe
2.5 cups flour (You will need more. You will use lots of flour and if you cook like me, most of it may or may not end up on the floor/on yourself.)
1 tbsp olive oil
5 eggs
1 egg yolk, reserve the egg white
Dash of salt

Combine all of the ingredients except the reserved egg white and mix well. Add in some of the reserved egg white if your dough is too dry. Cover the bowl with a towel once your dough is sufficiently mixed and allow to sit for ~20 minutes. Then, roll out the dough and cut out the ravioli using whatever tool you have at your disposal (i.e. cookie cutter, cup, small bowl, etc). For lack of a better alternative, I used a shot glass and it worked flawlessly. I used the spokes of a fork to create indentations along the perimeter of the ravioli. The finished product looked pretty legit although it resembled a sombrero.

Rosemary Ricotta Chicken & Mushroom Ravioli
½ lb ground chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp ricotta
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Generous dash of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
A handful of mushrooms, diced

Put olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and ground chicken and cook until brown ~8-10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and rosemary to the pan while the chicken is cooking. Transfer the chicken to a medium bowl and allow it to cool. Combine ricotta, parmesan, and lemon zest to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Spoon a generous amount of the chicken filling into your ravioli shell and then assemble your creation. Drop ravioli into a pot of boiling salt water and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. (Ravioli will float to the top when they are done cooking.)

Sweet Potato Ravioli
1 medium sweet potato
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp ricotta

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse sweet potato and cut in half. Add olive oil to a baking pan and place sweet potatoes in the baking dish with the sliced side facing the dish. Cook until sweet potatoes are mushy which should take about 35 minutes. To check, use a fork to spear the potatoes. If they go through easily, you’re good to go. Spoon out the sweet potato into a bowl and discard the skin. Add the brown sugar and ricotta and mix thoroughly. Spoon a generous amount of the filling into your ravioli shell and then assemble your creation. Drop ravioli into a pot of boiling salt water and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. (Ravioli will float to the top when they are done cooking.)

Italian Wedding Soup
For the soup:
8 cups of chicken broth
½ cup white wine (I used a Pinot)
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 a small onion, diced
1 cup of your favorite pasta, cooked according to package instructions

For the meatballs:
½ lb ground turkey
1 egg
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup of fresh parsley
¼ cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400. In a large pot combine the olive oil, carrots, and onion and allow to sauté until tender ~7-8 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and bring the broth to a boil. Once it has boiled, lower the heat. For the meatballs combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Assemble small meatballs on a baking sheet and cook at 400 for 30 minutes, flipping the meatballs halfway through. Add the pasta, meatballs, and some more fresh parsley to the soup and serve.

I really wish I would’ve taken a picture of the kitchen after I was done cooking because it was a complete disaster. There was flour everywhere. I’m not going to lie--I was exhausted after I finally finished the clean-up. Maybe it’s because I was hunched over the table making ravioli for an hour and a half, or maybe it’s because I’m 24 now and not as young as I used to be. Regardless, if you find yourself in that predicament the easy and obvious remedy is to pour yourself some of that white wine leftover from the soup recipe. You'll need it.

Here’s to Feeding your cravings—lc.