Rav-off! ABCD Ravioli Challenge

The Boblet, Kath and I decided to form a club in response to the boys obsessive behaviours. Originally ABC : Anti Bikes & Computers, we made an official name change to ABCD: Always Bitching, Complaining & Drinking. This decision was made at the AGM held in Bright at the new year, which may or may not have involved an intense afternoon-to-late night session of the above, with multiple bottles of North-Eastern Victoria’s finest.

We did consider adding an E for Eating on the end, but figured once we started that we would probably quite quickly end up just being called the ABDCEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, ah, which is slightly less catchy, don’t you agree?

At any rate, it would have been suitable in light of our recent exploits, the first of which I am posting now, and the second of which happened last week (!), which is why I am getting my ass into gear and finally posting this one already!

The ABCD Ravioli Challenge or The Rav-Off!

4 girls (we had Jo ringing in as an ABCD member, despite my having never heard her complaining about anything! impostor!), a couple of kilos of 000 flour, a pile of eggs, an assortment of tasty fillings and, hello, Kath’s kitchenaid mixer which kindly mixed, kneaded(!!) and then electronically cranked the pasta roller attachment! Sweet!

I can’t remember who’s pasta recipe we used, but I’ve used a few different ones and they all seem to work. The mixer kneaded the dough and we refrigerated it in balls while we prepped the fillings.

we rolled the pasta sheets out to 6, because we were worried about the filling staying in, and 7 seemed like it would be too thin. I don’t have any photos of the rolling : (

The fillings:

Pumpkin, spinach and fetta: mashed oven roasted pumpkin, chopped fresh spinach, chunks of fetta.

Aubergine: oven roasted aubergine, tomato, onion, garlic, assorted spices, fetta (yummy, but no piccies).

Caramelised onion with anchovies and olives: it’s a Donna Hay recipe but I can’t find any link to link to and I’m not sure which of her books Jo was working from, but basically you slow cook lots of onion and add chopped anchovies and sliced olives until they’re lovely and caramelised.

we (um, Kath) made a simple tomato and basil sauce, with CUTE tinned cherry toms to serve will each flavour. We cooked the ravs in filling batches, and had 3 rav courses plus dessert. hey also, hello maths skills, since we each ate ~4 ravs per course, and there were 7 of us, and 3 courses, we made over 84 ravs! I say definitely quite a bit over, since you know, you have to test a few along the way

I took photos of each course, but, you know what, ravs kinda all look the same on the outside!

falafel

On a stormy Sunday not so long ago everyone gathered at Duncan and Dave’s to watch the Paris-Roubaix live broadcast, and we decided that to keep our energy supplies up for the 2am finish (being as we are, quite on the other side of the world from either Paris or Roubaix), a FEAST was in order.

Duncs and I discussed catering options, and a middle easterny Feast was decided on. I was particularly slack/hungry and did not take any photos of the actual Feast, so to set the scene only: the table consisted of grilled skewers of chicken and lamb, flatbreads, fattoush, taboulli, hummus, yogurt garlic sauce and these falafels.

I made and fried (and photographed) the falafel at home, and we reheated them at the boys’ place after the bbq-ing and salad composition had taken place. They were definitely more delicious freshly cooked – very crunchy with a tender inside – but reheating wasn’t a bad compromise given the convenience. I want to make them again where they will be the main event – maybe falafel burgers? The Feast is great, but since there were a good 8 of us preparing different components of said Feast, it’s kinda not a quick weeknight option! (and I can only recommend finishing a meal with ice cream topped with crumbled baklava and chopped almonds if you are actively trying to disintegrate all your teeth. Pure. Sugar).

The recipe was adapted from memories of making it in my teens, some internet sleuthing and my general assertive “this is how I think it should be done” attitude. I cannot attest to it having any middle eastern “authenticity”, but WTF does that mean anyway? since when was any cooking “Authentic”? It’s tasty. End Rant.

Falafel

Soak some (I used maybe 600g?) dried chickpeas in water overnight. Drain, rinse and then blitz in a food processor until it starts becoming crumby. Chuck in a good few tablespoons of cumin powder, some coriander powder, paprika and maybe a wee pinch of cayenne. Add a big handful of fresh parsley stems and all, and another of coriander, same deal. Continue to blitz.. if the ‘hummus’ is too dry and not coming together as a paste, add some water, a little at a time, until you have a very thick pasty mixture.

I formed it into the shape you see above by molding/rolling firmly with 2 spoons…called a quenelle, and hard to explain (but here is a low quality demo on you tube! horray for you tube!).

heat vegetable oil in a pan and shallow or deep fry your falafel in batches. Keep the oil temp medium, so your falafels are cooked and tender all the way through without being too dark on the outside. you’ll need to do a few taste tests as you go (a sprinkle of salt and some yogurt sauce at this point is essential to, ummm, test how cooked they are).

And the complimentary hummus (dip) post is coming soon at some point! xxx

what the fetta did next (spinach and fetta linguine)

you know that marinated fetta I take to everything? you know, the one I gave my secret away and told you how easy and cheap it is to make?

I promised it was handy to always have a container marinating away in the fridge, and here is proof, in case you doubted me.

Linguine with Spinach and Marinated Fetta

cook pasta to al dente, drain and stir through a bunch of washed and chopped fresh english spinach, stalks and all (if using silverbeet, you’ll probably need to blanch/steam/saute it first as it’s quite a bit tougher, especially the white stalks), a good few spoonfuls of the marinated fetta including some oil/lemon/spice marinade.

Yep, that’s it. dinner in 11 minutes. It’s pre-seasoned: spices and lemon, saltiness from fetta, and the fetta melts a bit on the hot pasta and combines with its marinade to make a lush but light sauce coating the pasta. If you wanna get fancy add some toasted pinenuts or even some grilled chicken or fish for added proteins.

Or just eat it. the only problem is having any marinated fetta last long enough to make it to the pasta. Better make a double batch.