turning a lemon into lemonade

tonight we had green garlic and potato ravioli in an onion cream sauce. the pasta was actually leftover from a batch i made a couple weeks ago that i stored in the freezer for a weeknight, which made dinner prep literally a "20 minuter," as my friend larry likes to say.

the night i actually made the ravioli (using green garlic from tairwa farms that i got from the sf farmers' market), i served it "in brodo" - just a simple chicken broth with fresh mushrooms and asparagus tips. to be honest, it was only so-so; not enough flavor. no, i didn't say there wasn't enough salt; i'm saying there wasn't enough FLAVOR. the green garlic-potato filling was so light, and the broth was so light... bleh. the whole thing was just so disappointing that i almost threw out the rest of the ravioli. but, i'm kind of a pack rat, so away i froze them, hoping i could figure out what to do with them another day.

fast forward to this past sunday when i was on the plane back from arizona, trying to come up with the weekly grocery list for lunch and dinner. i realized i could make my life easier by using the ravioli one night. i thought over what kind of sauce i could make, and that's when it dawned on me: why not make a creamy sauce to round out the lightness of the ravioli? i couldn't do anything to make the *filling* any richer, so if the mountain wouldn't come to mooner, then mooner could go to the mountain. i was pretty sure because the ravioli were so light that the cream sauce wouldn't overwhelm.

well, turns out i was right. (but hey, when am i ever wrong?;) the sauce made a HUGE difference. this time, the ravioli was AMAZING. i happily ate every single one of them, and so did kevin. (the first time we had them, i had to force the last few down.) now i feel good about sharing the ravioli recipe, because i know you'll enjoy these also as much as we did tonight.

btw - if you really prefer to serve the ravioli in a broth, i would very much recommend that you add cheese to the filling. i think something like a soft goat cheese (i absolutely LOVE laura chenel's chevre) would work really well.

the ravioli recipe is adapted from alice waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook. for the onion & cream sauce, you should feel free to add additional ingredients to it: a little pancetta would taste great (ease up on the salt and butter, and even the parmesan cheese if you do add it, though), as would some fresh wild mushrooms (porcini, shitake, chanterelle... any of those would be awesome).

enjoy!


Green Garlic & Potato Ravioli

8 green garlic, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh marjoram
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb fresh pasta sheets
1 medium egg, lightly beaten with 2 tsps water

Cook green garlic with 1 tsp salt and just enough water to cover the green garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat until very soft. Remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, bring salted water to boil in a large pot and cook potatoes until they're fork tender. Drain potatoes, then pass with green garlic through a food mill. Add herbs, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.

Unroll a little less than half the pasta on lightly floured surface. Mound 2 tsps of filling at about 1" intervals (the width of the pasta I use made two rows). Brush egg wash on pasta around the filling. Lay the other half of the pasta on top of bottom layer, making sure to ease pasta along the mounds of filling and patting down edges. Use a knife and cut raviolis into squares; use tines of fork to seal ravioli edges shut. Allow ravioli to dry slightly.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. (Now is the time to start the sauce, recipe is below.) When water comes to boil, add about 6 ravioli at a time and cook until they rise to surface. Remove using slotted spoon and transfer to colander to drain. Makes enough ravioli for 4.

Note: If you have any filling leftover (you probably will), you can either fry up some mashed potato pancakes for another meal, or use it as topping for shepherd's pie (just add a little milk and butter to it first).


Onion & Cream Sauce

4 tbsps unsalted butter
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Finely chopped chives for garnish

Green garlic and potato ravioli

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until edges begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, half & half, and cheese, and bring to boil. Boil until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add ravioli to skillet and stir until just coated with sauce. Divide pasta and sauce among 4 pasta dishes. Sprinkle tops with chives. Serves 4.