I spent the afternoon clearing out the spent summer growth in one of my vegie gardens. A pumpkin vine had taken over...but it wasn't earning it's keep, lots of flowers and no pumpkins. So off with it's head! I salvaged the last of the silverbeet (the leaves that the caterpillars left me anyway) and mixed up some tasty ravioli filling for the freezer. I've found this makes it super easy when you have a craving for fresh ravioli. Simply mix up some pasta dough, roll it out and fill with your frozen mix. I'm usually lazy and just have it with burnt butter and sage sauce. We can have dinner on the table in 30 minutes (more if I'm patient enough to rest the dough properly).
I need to sit down and plan for my autumn planting. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons to grow veg. It's a little cooler, often more rain and plants just seem happier. Summer is passionate and chaotic - boom or bust. Autumn is a pottering, pondering season. I prepared a second bed during the heat of summer in anticipation. The warm temperatures are perfect for kick starting a lasagne style garden bed, gets everything breaking down. So far all I've managed to plant in it is lots of basil. What are you planning for the next growing season?
Yum! I've been craving ravioli. I grew up eating the pre-made kind (meh) and keep wanting to try making it from scratch. Dough is super easy, you're right. Patience is just the key, haha! And I like the idea of freezing it. How do you thaw it? I wonder if you could freeze little dollops of it and stick them in the dough frozen and then boil it like that...
ReplyDeleteI thaw the filling either in the fridge the day before (if I'm organised enough)...or, more likely, on the counter for a few hours. I'm sure freezing little balls of the filling would work well too, as long as you froze them separately on a tray before combining them for storage. I've also frozen the ravioli whole (as in, I made extra ravioli and froze the little parcels), worked perfectly. With a bit of pre-planning, you can have 'frozen dinners' that are gourmet and healthy too! I like it because you can use either leftovers for fillings or get creative (leftover dips with an egg and some cheese stirred in; peas with ricotta and parmesan; pumpkin, fetta and walnuts...). Definitely give it a try!
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