Great news: shrimp have moved up on the Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood, and with the news, a craving for shrimp hit me hard. We were having some friends over for Sunday supper, so I decided to get the pasta machine out, and make a shrimp ravioli. It tunred out beautifully - and enjoying that fresh shrimp flavor guilt-free was wonderful.
Fresh Goat Cheese and Shrimp Ravioli
serves 4 as a first course
For the pasta:
2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
OR 3 sheets fresh pasta dough (available at Italian markets - in NYC, go to Raffetto's (144 W. Houston)
For the filling:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4-6 medium Northern Shrimp (from Canada) or Pink Shrimp (from the US)
1/4 cup goat cheese
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
For the sauce:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
4-6 medium Northern Shrimp (from Canada) or Pink Shrimp (from the US)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Prepare the fresh pasta dough according to pasta machine's instructions, or any basic pasta dough recipe (Google is your friend here.) Roll pasta out into sheets 3"-4" wide and place between slightly damp dishtowels to rest.
Prepare filling by sauting shrimp (in shells) in olive oil over medium-high heat for about a minute, until they turn slightly opaque. Remove from heat, allow to cool off enough to handle, and peel shells away. Chop shrimp into pieces. In a bowl, combine shrimp, goat cheese, milk, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Assemble ravioli by slicing pasta into 3"-4" squares - you should have about 24 squares. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of half of the squares and place each remaining square atop a square with filling. Crimp the edges by pressing down with the tines of a fork. If edges are not sealing, you can apply a swipe of water with your finger, or a bit of whipped egg white. Set ravioli aside on a sheet pan or out on dishtowels. Take care not to let ravioli stick by dusting with flour before placing on top of one another.
When ready to serve, bring a stockpot of salted water to boil. Cook the ravioli carefully (lower in and remove with a slotted spoon), for about 5 minutes, until soft.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by sauting the second batch of shrimp in the melted butter and olive oil over medium-high heat as you did the first time. Reserve the pan with juices. Peel the shrimp, chop, and reintroduce into pan, turning the flame up to high. Add the white wine and let the juices reduce, and completing the cooking process of the shrimp. Place ravioli to pan to coat with sauce and serve.
Would this be good without the shrimp? I'm a vegetarian and I've never used my ravoli maker...
Definitely! Try adding some citrus zest or even very thin strips of lightly toasted (just enough to dry it out - try a 200 deg oven for 15 minutes) citrus skin (orange is good) to the sauce to spice it up a bit, and maybe add chopped Italian parsley to the herbs in the fliling. It'd be delicious.
The veg version sounds great for those of us who eat kosher as well.
oooh -- yummy! I definitely have to try this one...
Sara Kate and everybody,
Try to secure U.S. farmed shrimp (often found in Ecofish packaging), Northern Shrimp, or Pink Shrimp for this recipe. If you're in California, you may be able to get your hands on trap-caught Spot Prawns. The super-available shrimp varieties you can find in any supermarket are unfortunately either caught or farmed overseas in ways that cause serious harm to other animals and the environment.
These great sources of shrimp are comparatively hard to come by. If you can't find them, go for U.S.-caught shrimp, most of which will be from South Carolina and Georgia and the Gulf. The U.S. government requires our shrimpers to use devices in their nets to prevent the capture and death of sea turtles, something non-U.S. shrimpers rarely do.
Happy eating
for healthy oceans,
Mary
This turned out to be a very successful dinner. Filling (in that five or six 4" squares will satisfy even the most hungry) and light enough that every flavour stands out. Takes some time (if you're making the pasta from scratch) but well worth it. :)
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