ROAST APPLE AND RICOTTA RAVIOLI

I had some left over ricotta from making my carrot crepes, and then I had some apples and had recently bought a ravioli stamp thingy. So, these were an experiment, and they worked out so well. Really well. Roast apples are so good, so good. I can't even...

This made 24 ravioli. There was lots of pasta dough left over. Pumped for lunch.

Pasta:
I made fresh pasta to make the ravioli. I got the recipe from vegan dad. It's easy!
http://vegandad.blogspot.co.nz/2009/08/easy-fresh-vegan-pasta.html

Filling:
3 apples, cut into quarters with core removed (I used Splendor apples that I got from the farmer's market. They worked well. Use a cooking apple. I wouldn't recommend using Gala or Fuji or Delicious apples for this)
2 T oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cashew-tofu ricotta (recipe following)
1 T fresh rosemary

To serve (this is just what I did, and it worked well):
1 T vegan butter
1 T nutritional yeast
Fresh pepper
2 C spinach, loosely packed
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 T olive oil

Method:

1. Roast the apple forever. I mean, roast the apples for 40 minutes. Get out a baking tray, put the 2 T oil in the bottom, add the apples and mix them around so they have some oil on them. Sprinkle with the salt. DO NOT REMOVE THE SKIN. This would be madness.

2. While they're roasting, make the pasta dough, and set aside.

3. If you're not using left over tofu-cashew ricotta, make that. It's easy peasy. It's an adaptable recipe, so if you don't have cashews, that's ok as long as you have some nuts and some tofu. Just take a block of tofu, 3/4 C of nuts, some salt, a teaspoon or so of something acidic, maybe some miso (1 tsp), maybe some nutritional yeast (to taste), and blend, blend, blend!

4. If you have a spice blender or a mortar and pestle, crush that rosemary

5. When the apples are done, put them into a food processor. I wouldn't just add them to the ricotta, because I don't think the apples and ricotta should be perfectly mixed. So put the apples into a food processor, add the rosemary. Blend.

6. In a bowl, mix the ricotta and apple mixture. Set aside.

7. Roll the pasta into long sheets. I do one at a time. So I roll a sheet, spoon the filling on top, and then roll another sheet to place on top. Then I work the upper dough around the filling with my hands to make little pockets, pushing the air out. This might be an unprofessional method, I'm not sure.

7. Stamp the ravioli. Cook in boiling water for 3-4 mins. Drain. Toss with vegan butter.

8. If you're serving with spinach, and I do recommend it, toss the spinach with oil and balsamic, and put in a bowl or on a plate. It seems boring but it's not.

9. Add ravioli. Sprinkle with fresh black pepper and nutritional yeast.

Rarely does a day go by that I don't have some fu-shew ricotta in the fridge, left over from something. If it sits in the fridge for a few days, it's at its prime. Here's the recipe:

Tofu-cashew Ricotta Recipe:

1 container of firm tofu, or 1 bag from the farmer's market
3/4 to 1 cup cashews, soaked for 1/2 hour (but if you don't soak them, it's NBD)
juice from 1 lemon (you can also include pulp if you feel like digging it out)
1 heaping tsp miso
salt and pepper to taste
Water if necessary

PUMPKIN, WALNUT, AND SAGE LASAGNA (with a side of massaged kale)

This is the third time I've made this. Next time I'm going to double the "Alfredo" sauce. It's really a béchamel sauce with some sage, not that it really matters.

The first time I made this it was Canadian Thanksgiving. I was living in the US with a woman from Spain, and we had decided to make it a big dinner and invite a bunch of people over. It was a success. We also spent American Thanksgiving at a friends, and they had all the usual Thanksgiving fair. A year later, I had moved to a new place but hosted Canadian Thanksgiving again. I invited my Spanish friend,  and she was so confused by the food. I had a seitan roast and stuffing and vegetables. She was like, "where is the lasagna?" Because she thought Canadians ate lasagna for Thanksgiving as a tradition from our forefathers. And now I think of this as my Thanksgiving lasagna. It's all wholesome, cozy fall feelings. 

Massaged kale:

Kale (it's best if they are smaller, younger leaves)
Olive oil or coconut oil, about 1 Tb, but it depends on how much kale you have.
Lemon juice (optional - I used about a tsp of lemon juice)
Salt (I prefer smoked salt)

I also sometimes use toasted sesame oil, a tsp of miso, and a little soy sauce, and then sprinkle it with sesame seeds at the end. That's really the best. The kale at the farmer's market today was perfect for this sort of thing.

Directions:
Wash the kale and break into pieces.   Sprinkle with oil. If you're using a more solid fat, like coconut oil, just break it up into pieces. It will disperse as you massage the kale. Then you really do just massage it pretty vigorously for a while. I find it relaxing, so I'll do it for ages. Just grab handfuls and rub the leaves together. The leaves should change color to be brighter. Sprinkle with salt and let it rest while you make the lasagna.

Lasagna:

The recipe is essentially this one from vegan dad: http://vegandad.blogspot.co.nz/2008/10/roasted-pumpkin-and-walnut-manacotti.html

Instead of manicotti I use lasagna (obvs). I made the pasta fresh using a pasta maker. I like using fresh noodles because they cook nicely with the pumpkin and soak up any extra liquid while it's baking. It also looks nicer as lasagna than manicotti, IMO. To make the filling, I used two medium sized pumpkins I bought at the farmers market. They worked perfectly. I saved the seeds and roasted them afterwards. After I made the béchamel sauce and the filling, I alternated layers of the pasta and pumpkin filling and put the béchamel on top, and then baked it for 45 minutes at 200.

It was really good.

I also roasted the seeds. They were *ok*

CACIO E PEPE (with macaroni and sundried tomatoes, baked)

A less classy version of this recipe: http://www.rosewaterandthyme.com/2013/05/cacio-e-pepe/

I put a little extra olive oil in the recipe, and I also reduced the soy sauce and added some smoked salt and sundried tomatoes. Then I baked it for ten minutes. It was good.