Ravi-frickin-oli!

I got in a fight today. A knock down, drag out fight. I threw a few punches. I nearly cried. I was sore after. I let my rival rest for a bit before the second round, then I really let him have it. He ended up so stretched thin that he had to roll over and surrender. I am proud to call myself victor over that damn ravioli dough.

sweet success

It seemed like a simple enough recipe: flour, salt, eggs, olive oil. I can count the ingredients on one hand - there was nothing else. But, wow - how near I came to defeat!

I hit an immediate wall of frustration and blamed everything in sight: my dough hook let me down, the recipe let me down, the flour (how long ago did we buy that?) let me down. Even before I started to knead the dough I was concocting a backup plan: wonton wrappers, fresh lasagne noodles from Spinelli's contorted into shape, butternut squash shells?

Somehow I coaxed my obstinate self on long enough to arrive at the resting period - after 10 minutes of getting the dough to the utterly unachievable "elastic and smooth" state, cheating by adding surplus dabs of oil here and there, I said "f this", wrapped it in plastic wrap and sent it to the other corner of the ring. It rested. In fact it dozed a bit too long, but I needed a break - time to collect my thoughts and regroup.

I won't go so far as to say it was perfect, but seeing that dough ribbon its way through the pasta maker made my heart sing. Thanks for coming through for me, dough ball - now I know. Trust the process.

In case you're wondering...

Tough But Worth It Ravioli Dough

2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

3 eggs (plus one for egg wash)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt with a dough hook attachment.
Add eggs one at a time, combining completely.
Drizzle in 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and continue to mix until the dough forms a ball. (This never happened for me, so I moved on to the next step)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and fold/knead for 10 minutes (this sucks, and you'll probably feel certain you're a failure as your shaggy dough crumbles in front of your eyes)
Once you've stared at the clock and thought over and over again, "is my 10 minutes up?", smash the dough into a disc, brush the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil on it, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (shut up and do it)
Remove 1/3 of the dough ball and keep the rest wrapped until you need it so it doesn't dry out
Using a roller, flatten the dough into a rectangular shape thin enough to run through your pasta maker on the widest setting. Run it through, moving to narrower settings, until you get to about 1/8" thickness
Create an egg wash with 1 egg plus 1 Tbsp cold water, brush it on the pasta, fill with something delicious and seal well (I sautéed shallots and butternut squash puree, then added salt, pepper, cream and parmesan cheese for mine)
Cook in boiling water 2-4 minutes, remove, and toss with a brown butter sage sauce

This Year, We Host

I often wonder why I feel more inspired to write when I'm traveling, on vacation, trying something new. The answer always seems obvious: because I'm out of my element. Who wants to dwell on, let alone subject others to, the mundane details of their daily working life?

But today I stand up to my inner voice and ask - why are travel, vacation and newness antonymous to "my element"? If that's where I'm inspired, isn't that exactly the element I'm made of?

Of course I'm oversimplifying - I don't have the pocketbook to constantly inspire myself with new far off destinations and distant cultures. But I do have the mundane yet magical ability to open my eyes just a bit wider, encourage my taste buds just a bit more, and go back to the Chartreuse Umbrella roots of tasting life in the every day.

~

It's a perfect time to talk food - autumn has fallen and I'm in the midst of prepping a Thanksgiving feast for the masses. Thinking we'd win the pity and company of one or two other family-less friends this Tofurkey day, we put the invite out and wound up with over 20 mouths to feed (and seat!) in our 1,200 square foot, single bathroom house. Thanksgiving Dinner Host Challenge, here we come.

Pot-luck style was the obvious answer, and as the number of attendees has crept up, I can only hope the dish size has too. In homage to the Mennillo family, this year we will celebrate Italian Thanksgiving, with all the good old-fashioned American fixins, plus pasta, pasta and more pasta. As if Thanksgiving was't the most gluttonous, overindulgent, stuffed to the gills holiday in the first place - we add pasta to the mix.

Luckily for us, our friends are gems and threw their hands high in the air volunteering for the traditional dishes: pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole - we even pulled the vegetarian card and convinced a friend, who's a stellar chef, to take charge of bird duty.

We quickly agreed on three Italian dishes, some old school and authentic, and others not so much. Our Manicotti will be straight from the Mennillo recipe book, which is to say simple and delicious, with no fuss. The Butternut Squash Ravioli will be 100% made from scratch, which would be no small task if it weren't for Pistache, my beloved KitchenAid stand mixer. Individual lasagnes are simple with the exception of the elusive Amore Herb Paste - come on, who sells that? I could write a whole blog post about the practice of including esoteric ingredients in recipes as a means of lifestyle-ism. Maybe I will...

On Monday night, a last minute Google search on "how much turkey for 20 people" raised our blood pressure at the thought of not enough food, so we added Butternut Squash Soup and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies to the menu at the 11th hour.

Monday prep, from squash soup to peach pie

Tuesday prep, pie filling and cookies ready to bake

As stressed out as my other half is, I have to say I'm calm as a tryptophan addict having planned and scheduled each prep step. Call me crazy, but as in life, knowing what you're in for and then choosing to run at it full force is the best practice. Outcome, still to be determined but outlook is good.