More Mangia, Mangia!
The polenta feed was such a success in July that my family decided to make ravioli this month. Four generations of us came together at my grandma’s place for a couple days to make sauce, grind meat, roll pasta, and press out 53 dozen ravioli. We filled most with a traditional meat filling based on a recipe my aunt inherited from a friend, but Stacy and Shawnee also made a yummy salmon filling with a big fish my Grandpa Bill caught.
After nearly two full days of work, we sat down for dinner around 8 pm and stuffed ourselves on 13 dozen meat-filled pasta treats. We gave 10 dozen away to family and friends (my dad, who isn’t exactly known for his generosity when it comes to compliments, said they were the best ravioli he’d ever eaten). We packed up the rest for later feasts (unfortunately, we forgot to dust them with flour and many of mine stuck together after they were frozen). To finish the night, Shayln made strawberry shortcake for dessert, and then it was time to clean up our mess.
Anyway, in case you want to make your own, here is the recipe (as documented by Shayln) for what we ended up putting in the filling. I think I would go easier on the cheese next time, but other than that, I thought it was pretty good:
3 Italian Sausages
3-4 lbs. beef Tri-Tip
1_ lbs. lean ground round
1 pork chop
1 chicken breast
4 cloves garlic
2 onions (chopped)
_ C fresh chopped thyme (or 1T dry)
_ C fresh chopped oregano (or 1T dry)
_ C fresh chopped marjoram (or 1T dry)
2T of Italian Seasoning
1 bunch fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 bunch fresh chopped Swiss chard
Cook all the above ingredients and run through a food grinder. Add the binder and mix with your (clean) hands until fully mixed.
Binder:
6 beaten eggs
1_ C Parmesan cheese
1_ C seasoned bread crumbs.
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