Crab Ravioli!

While your pasta is doin' it's thing in the fridge, you can go ahead and make your filling! Today I'm making a crab ravioli and I found the most simple recipe by Martha Stewart. It's usually the simple recipes that have the most flavor and of course it makes it so easy to prepare! Plus I got to try out my brand new mini food processor - WIN!!!

Crab Filling:
1 cup crabmeat
1 cup ricotta cheese
salt and pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp (approx) lemon juice

First I put the crab in and pulsed it until broken up. Then I added the cheese and just left it on until well mixed. Then I added the seasonings. (Next time I think I'll use some bay seasoning for an extra "kick"!) Scrape sides as needed to mix thoroughly. I added the lemon juice to the recipe as I love the lemon taste to any seafood! But you don't want to water down your filling too much! So I just added small amounts at a time and then blended.

This is what it looked like when I was finished.

So...now to shape the dough!

 Out of the fridge!

 I cut about 3/4" slices and work with one slice at a time.

 Put slice on floured surface, and roll thin enough to use on pasta machine.

Bella is rolling out this slice. Easy enough for a kid to do it!!!

 She really concentrates on it, lol!

I put it through the pasta machine roller (starting at one, and working up to five in thickness). For ravioli, my attachment comes with this cutter so the pasta sheets are the exact width you need for it. The pasta left over goes back to the "log" and will be used!

I fold the sheet in half, and put the folded end in first, then turn the handle just enough so that it catches.

Then I put a bit of filling in the middle, but not to the edges! Just add more filling if needed as you turn the handle!

Turn, turn, turn and out pops a sheet of finished raviolies!! I only have a pizza cutter, so the edges aren't pretty, but I have a proper pasta cutter on it's way from Amazon.

As I cut apart the raviolies, I place them on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal to dry. Keep repeating the process until all the dough has been used.

My triple batch of pasta made nearly 3 cookie sheets of ravioli!! There is very little waste of the pasta dough. I let it dry for about an hour, flip over, wait another hour. They should feel dry and rather "leathery". Then I put them in a 1 gallon ziplock bag and put them in the fridge if I'm not going to use them right away.

Easy Alfredo Sauce:

1/2 cup of butter (one stick)

1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese

2 tsp of garlic powder

2 cups of milk

6 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp pepper

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Serve over hot pasta.

 Soooooo yummy good!!!