Caramelised Sweet Potato, Leek and Feta Ravioli in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Don’t you love it when the kids help you prepare dinner – and it works!  And for some strange reason they enjoy eating it even more.

 

 

 

I had a craving for some quality ravioli in a creamy sauce so had this planned as a weekend meal.  We also have some delightful baby leeks in the garden so they added to the inspiration and creamy mushroom sauce.  The result was caramelised sweet potato, leek and feta ravioli in Veggie Daddy’s very child friendly creamy mushroom sauce.  You could serve this with a green side salad or as I did today for a more balanced meal a piece of lightly steamed broccoli on each bowl.

The kids had fun helping roll, fill and press the pasta leading to quite a rustic look.  They soon lost interest in the task at hand after a few batches so they got out their Thermomix made playdough and created their own instead.  But most importantly when it came to dinner we were a pretty happy family with most coming back for more!

Pasta Dough

300g flour

3 free range eggs
Pinch salt

Filling

2 tbls olive oil

400g sweet potato or pumpkin cubed
1 baby leek or ½ large leek finely chopped
80g feta
Pepper to taste

Sauce

1 clove garlic

Approx 6 mushrooms
300g cream
Parmesan cheese or similar to serve

 

• Place flour, eggs and salt in Thermomix bowl and knead for approx 1 min until dough comes together

• Wrap in Thermomat or plastic wrap and place in fridge for an hour for gluten to rest

• Meanwhile make filling by placing oil, sweet potato and leek in a fry pan over a medium heat, cover, stir occasionally, and cook for approx 10 minutes or until pumpkin is softened and slightly browned

• Place sweet potato mixture in Thermomix bowl with feta and pepper and mix on speed 5 for 20 seconds to combine well.  Set mixture aside and clean bowl for making sauce

• Remove pasta dough from fridge and cut into 6 pieces.  Keep remaining pieces covered while preparing each batch

• Roll each piece of dough through a pasta machine at least 10 times.  My pasta machine has settings 1 – 9 and I like to roll to around setting 3 for ravioli into 5cm strips. 

• Place rolled pasta onto a lightly floured bench, place small spoonfuls of filling halfway along strip then cover with other half.  Press edges together and cut into pieces.  Lightly dust with flour and set aside.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling

• Bring a large pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt

• To make sauce place garlic in Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 6.  Add mushrooms and chop for a further 5 seconds on speed 5.  Sauté at 100° for 5 minutes on speed 1.  Add cream and simmer at 80° for 10 minutes

 

 

• Add batches of ravioli to boiling water ensuring not to overcrowd.  Cook for approx 10 minutes or until cooked to your liking

• Serve ravioli with mushroom sauce topped with grated cheese

Enjoy!

Lentil Bolognese

After a fanatastic camping holiday what better way to enjoy the trip home than with a stop at a delightful country town cafe. We stumbled across Alfreds Cafe in Euroa.  An eclectic yet boutique cafe with delicious food and five star service. Walking in with kids all a little shabby post camping, we were warmly welcomed with a high chair, colouring books and kids menu.

Enjoying lunch at Albert's Cafe in Euroa

 

Veggie mum and dad enjoyed a very satisfying coffee followed by a smoked salmon, Milawa brie, preserved lemon tart and zucchini and haloumi fritters. We couldn't resist the cake selection and chose the orange almond cake to share on the drive home. Incredibly light for an almond cake with the unmatchable flavour of whole orange. Any drive along the Hume would be enhanced by Alberts Cafe in Euroa.

licking the every last piece of cake crumbs...

So we got home rather late, needed a quick and reliable dinner, and I was pretty keen to get my hands back on the Thermomix dials.  Was better than a trusty Lentil Bolognese.  It’s one of those favourites that you can use whatever veges you have on hand or prefer and the lentil can be pre cooked dried green lentils or straight from a tin if time is calling you.  Any pasta if fine but the kids love spaghetti and topped with some fresh parmesan cheese you can’t go wrong.



Lentil Bolognese with Spaghetti

Lentil Bologese

 

40g parmesan cheese cubed

1 onion

1 clove garlic

20g olive oil

1 carrot

1 zucchini

1 handful of mushrooms

¼ red capsicum

1 tin lentils drained

1 tin tomato

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp vege stock concentrate

50g red wine or water

Handful of fresh herbs eg basil, oregano or 1 tsp dried herbs

• Add cheese to Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6 then set aside
• Add garlic and onion to bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6
• Add oil and sauté for 3 minutes at 100° on speed 1
• Add roughly chopped carrot, zucchini, mushrooms and capsicum and chop for 4 seconds on speed 7
• Add all other ingredients (if using fresh herbs leave for last 5 minutes) and cook for 15 minutes at 100° on Reverse speed 1
• Meanwhile cook your favourite pasta to your liking then serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin, Pinenut and Sage Fettucini

My life isn’t all about cooking.  My other passion at the moment is running and guess what, I’m back! After having 2 kids and only doing weekly 5 km runs I’ve signed up for the 12km Run Geelong, a fundraiser for the children’s ward at the Geelong hospital.  And it’s in 2 weeks!  But this week I ran 8km and this morning 10km so I think I’ll make it.

 
After not running a great deal for 3 years my motivation play list was a bit outdated.  But welcome Enrique Iglesias “I like how it feels” to really get you going! (or for a dance around the lounge room with the kids!) My runners were also pretty worn out so I’ve got a new pair of shoes on the way.  Even more exciting, I’ve changed brands for the first time in 10 years and they’re red! So stay tuned...

 

And what better carb loading food to have tonight than pasta.  Inspired by some fresh backyard grown sage from the local farmer’s marker this morning and some time to make fresh pasta with my daughter, I decided on a rather indulgent creamy pumpkin, pinenut and sage sauce over fresh fettucini topped with crispy sage leaves.  A real treat but  well earned after hitting the pavement.  If you’re using store bought pasta it’s quick and easy, but you really can’t beat home made pasta, and the kids love helping too.

 
Creamy Pumpkin, Pinenut and Sage Fettucini
Sauce
500g pumpkin
1 bunch sage leaves
Handful pinenuts
300g cream
Salt and pepper

• Roast chopped pumpkin in oven for around 20 minutes or until golden
• During last few minutes add sage leaves, lightly oiled on a baking tray then set both aside while preparing pasta

 
Pasta as per EDC
3 free range eggs
300g plain flour
1 tbls Olive oil

• Place all ingredients in the Thermomix bowl and knead for 2 minutes on Interval Setting
• Remove dough and knead a little by hand until it comes together as a silky dough
• Wrap in Thermomat or damp towel and allow rest for at least half an hour
• Divide into 4 sections keeping remaining dough covering while working with each
• Roll dough through pasta machine on the widest setting about 5 times then repeat by gradually reducing to thinnest setting.  A great tip I learnt on a cooking show was as  soon as the dough  is long enough join it together into a loop so you can continuously loop dough through without refeeding.  It can become very quick and looks impressive!
• Dust dough with flour and roll through Fettuccini cutter then hang until ready to use
• Repeat with remaining dough while bringing a large pot of water to the boil
• Cook dough in batches for around 3 minutes or until al dente
   
• Meanwhile complete sauce...
   
• Add pinenuts to a frying pan and toast for a few minutes until golden
• Add pumpkin, cream, salt and pepper and heat through until cream starts to thicken
• Add half of the sage leaves crushed with remaining to serve

Serve sauce over freshly cooked pasta, top with crispy sage leaves and enjoy!