Sweet Potato Ravioli with Walnut "Parmesan Cheese"

The day after Thanksgiving usually means a fridge full of leftovers. I decided to put the extra baked sweet potatoes to good use and make ravioli.

For a vegan version I used an eggless pasta dough, a sage infused olive oil and instead of shaving parmesan over the ravioli, I sprinkled them with a chopped walnut mixture which added a nutty saltiness similar to parmesan cheese.

These were so delicious, I won’t wait until I have leftover sweet potatoes to make them again. And since these freeze well I recommend making several dozen at a time so you’ll have them on hand for a quick and easy weekday lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil, plus about 3 additional tablespoons
3 cloves garlic

Pasta Ingredients:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup-1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

Preparing the sweet potatoes:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 40-50 minutes or until soft.

Cool completely, then peel. This can be done several days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Once the potatoes are cool, peel and mash. This can be done by hand or in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Walnut "Parmesan Cheese" Topping

Add the chopped walnuts to a pan over low heat. Toss or stir often, being careful no to burn the nuts.

Once the nuts turn a light golden brown and are fragrant, take off the heat, pour in bowl and set aside.

Finely chop three cloves of garlic. Sprinkle with salt- I like to use kosher salt for this.

Using your knife, work the salt into the garlic until you have a paste.

Put about three tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the garlic paste. Using a wooden spoon smash the garlic into the oil until most of it dissolves. Be careful not to brown or overcook the garlic.

Turn off the heat and add the nuts. Toss together well. Add more salt if necessary. The final product should be nutty and a bit salty. 

The Pasta:

Mound flour on a large wooden cutting board.

Make a well in the center of the flour.

Add water a little at a time, stirring with a fork until the flour has enough liquid for the dough to come together.

The dough will be sticky, but should not be wet.

Kneed the dough for 3 minutes. Scrape up all the sticky bits then re-flour the board. Continue kneading for 3 more minutes. Dust the board with flour when necessary. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky.

Cut the dough in half. Wrap the unused half in a towel to prevent it from drying out.

Press the dough into a rectangle then run it through the widest setting on the pasta maker two or three times. Reduce the setting on the pasta maker and repeat this process. At this point your dough may be quite long, I usually cut it in half and set aside. Dust the dough occasionally to prevent the sticking. Continue reducing the setting on the pasta maker until the dough is 1/8” thick.

Place the sheet of dough on a floured surface and put teaspoons of the filling a few inches apart until you have filled up the sheet of pasta. Brush a bit of water around each mound of filling- you can use your finger to do this.

Roll out another sheet of dough and place on top, press gently around the filling.

Cut out the ravioli. You can use anything to use as a cutter- a cup, biscuit cutter a knife. Make sure each ravioli has a good seal. Set aside on a baking sheet dusted with flour. 
Repeat this until you have used all the dough.

Heat the additional 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add the chopped sage and sprinkle with a few pinches of good salt. Once the sage is a bit crispy and the oil is fragrant, turn off the heat.

Carefully drop the ravioli into gently boiling salted water. Be careful not to over-crowed the ravioli, you may have to do this in several batches, The ravioli will only take a few minutes, once they float to the top, they are done. Remove the ravioli from the water using a slotted spoon. 

Drain well and place in the pan with the sage and olive oil. Gently toss in the pan making sure that the ravioli are coated with the sage oil.

Place the ravioli on a plates then sprinkle with the walnut “parmesan” topping.

Farro Salad with Carrots, Fennel and Dried Cranberries

Farro is one of those grains that does not get enough attention. It's perfect for soups and salads and hardy enough to satisfy as a main meal. Every time I make a farro salad I always wonder why I don’t do it the more often.

The nutty, sweet texture works particularly well with dried fruit so in keeping with the sprit of the holiday season we added dried cranberries and tossed it in a simple citrus vinaigrette.

Ingredients:
1 cup farro
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup thinly sliced, then chopped, fennel
1 large tablespoon rough chopped dried cranberries
Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely cupped shallots
A squeeze of meyer lemon juice and a bit of the zest

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, shallots and lemon juice. While continuing to whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated.

Rinse farro in cold water then place in a small sauce pan and cover with about 2-2/12 cups of water. Add a bit of salt (optional) to the water.

Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the grains are tender but chewy. When done, drain any extra liquid that is still in the pan.

While the farro is cooking chop the carrots, fennel and cranberries.

Add the carrots, fennel and dried cranberries to the warm farro. Toss together.

Let cool to room temperature then add the vinaigrette to taste. Toss and serve.

Makes 2 meal size portions or 4-6 small sides.

Roam Artisan Burgers

So it’s a Tuesday night and you get a hankering for a burger. Well if you live in San Francisco you’re in luck. Mosey on down to Roam for one of the tastiest veggie burgers around. And it’s not a Garden or Boca burger, not that those are bad I just don’t want to eat them at a restaurant. Roam’s veggie burger patties are house made, organic, vegan and gluten free. And if that is not enough of a reason to eat a Roam veggie burger, their artisan buns are custom made at a local bakery, the pickles are made in-house and they source their produce from local farms.

And there is no shortage of great beverages. The shakes are made with organic ice cream or organic frozen yogurt and the sodas are house-made and sweetened with agave. For the grown ups there is a nice selection of micro brews and sustainably produced wines on tap.

Oh, and as a side note, for the other two days of the week when you might indulge in a beef, bison or turkey burger, all their meat is 100% grass feed and humanely raised on open pastures.

Roam Artisan Burgers
1785 Union Street (between Octavia and Gough) 
San Francisco, CA 94123
www.roamburgers.com

Chanterelle Pasta

This weekend I found myself the lucky recipient of a bag of fresh golden chanterelles. I know not everyone get as excited about these things as I do, but I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

If you have not had the opportunity to cook with chanterelles, I highly recommend it. Not only are they delicious they are high in potassium, vitamin A and D, and contain amino acids that help boost the immune system and may help fight cancer, infections and rheumatoid arthritis.

These mushrooms have a delicate peppery flavor and a hardy meaty texture. I wanted to make a dish where the mushrooms would stand out as the main flavor component, so I chose fresh pasta made from scratch. Although you could use a dried or even store bought fresh pasta, taking a bit more time to make it from scratch is worth the extra effort.

I also wanted this pasta to be completely vegan. You may notice that most homemade pasta recipes include eggs, however it’s very easy to create an eggless pasta by adding semolina four.

Pasta Ingredients:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup-1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

Mushrooms:
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise then thinly sliced
2 cups chanterelles sliced- about 1/4” thick
1 clove of garlic very finely chopped
1/2 cup dry vermouth
Flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Mound flour on a large wooden cutting board.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add water a little at a time, stirring with a fork until the flour has enough liquid for the dough to come together.

The dough will be sticky, but should not be wet. Gather the dough to form a ball.

Kneed the dough for 3 minutes. Scrape up all the sticky bits from the board, then re-flour the board. Continue kneading for 3 more minutes. Dust board with flour when necessary.

The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Cover the dough with a slightly damp towel and set aside while cooking the mushrooms.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, cover and cook until soft and they begin to release their water- about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about minute or two. Next add the vermouth and continue to cook for another minute until the liquid reduces to about ½. Add about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.

Adjust the salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and turn off heat.

Roll out the pasta.

Run through the fettuccini blade.

Place about ½ the noodles in boiling salted water. Fresh pasta only takes about a minute- be careful not to overcook. Store the remaining uncooked noodles in the fridge- they will keep fresh for several days.

Drain the pasta- reserving some of the cooking liquid. Gently toss pasta in the pan with the mushrooms- add a few tablespoons of the reserved liquid if the pasta is dry. Serve pasta in bowls, drizzle with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper.

Servings: 2 main course or 4 smaller servings.

Eco Tip of the Week

Look for dairy products sold in reusable containers. It’s simple: you pay a deposit for the container at the time of purchase and you are refunded the amount of your deposit the next time you bring back the empty jar, bottle or crock.

This may sound a little old fashioned, but think of all the containers that we can keep out of landfills or all of the resources that can be conserved if we don’t have to recycle them.

Here are a couple of Northern California companies using reusable containers. http://www.stbenoit.com
http://www.strausfamilycreamery.com

We like to know if you have found any products being packaged in reusable containers. We are always on the lookout.

Green Eggs

We all know today is the day to wear green, but don’t forget to eat your greens! This recipe is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sliced potatoes, 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup sliced onions
3 eggs
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon water
1 cup chopped mustard greens
Parmesan Cheese
Vinaigrette

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a bit of olive oil in a 10 inch cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.


Flip the potatoes a few times while they are cooking so they brown on both sides.


When the potatoes begin to get crisp add the onions.


While the potatoes and onions are cooking crack three eggs into a bowl. Add the water and whisk.


When the onions are translucent add the eggs to the skillet.


Sprinkle with chopped thyme and fresh ground pepper. Put in the oven.


The eggs will cook in about 5 minutes so keep an eye on them.


When the eggs have cooked through take them out of the oven and top with mustard greens tossed in vinaigrette. Add a bit of shaved Parmesan if you have any on hand.

Vegetable Pot Pies

It was cold and raining and we had a hankering for some comfort food. These vegetable pot pies hit the spot. Warm, comforting and full of flavor. We topped the pot pies with an olive oil whole wheat crust. The dough is a little harder to work with so be patient with it. The whole wheat crust adds a nutty flavor that compliments the mushroom gravy and it’s so much more nutritious.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
1 leek sliced into 1/4 in pieces and cut in half
1 large shallot finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1 large portabella mushroom cut into small pieces
2 cups Cremini or button mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas. If you are using fresh, lightly blanch them
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup dark beer or stout
1-2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoon flour
Salt
Pepper

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.



Steam the potatoes, carrots and onion until tender. Don’t over cook. When they are done, set aside.



In a separate pan sauté the leeks, garlic and shallot in olive oil.



When the leeks are soft add the mushrooms, parsley and thyme salt and pepper.


When the mushrooms are soft add the water. Simmer on low for about 15 minutes.


When the water has slightly reduced add the beer and simmer on low for another 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper as needed.


Make a roux with equal amounts flour and butter. To make the roux heat the butter in a small saucepan, when the butter it melted add the flour and stir four about a minute.

Add a bit of the mushroom broth to the roux and whisk.


Add the roux mixture to the skillet with the mushrooms. Gently combine. At this point the mixture should have the constancy of light gravy. If it is too thin, make a little more roux. It there is not enough liquid or the gravy is too thick add water to thin out. You want to make sure there is enough liquid so the pot pies have plenty of gravy.


Add the potato, carrot and onion mixture to the pan with the mushrooms. Add the peas. Gently mix.


Spoon the mixture into 4 oven proof crocks.



Cover each crock with the whole wheat pie crust and bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is done.

Whole wheat crust:
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup white all purpose flour
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
About 3 tablespoons water

Mix the four, oil and salt in a food processor. Slowly add the water until the mixture comes together. Divide the dough into 4 balls and roll each one out separately.