• Pasta Dough
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • A little water
  • Sausage Filling
  • 4 Italian Sausages with Broccoli Rabe and Romano cheese found at BJ's Wholesale Club or your favorite Italian sausage
  • 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Brown Butter Sauce
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage or 3 sage leaves
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream (you can also use low sodium chicken broth)
  • A fresh grind of black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 large egg

Yesterday I visited my good friends Bill and Karlie. We were talking about my upcoming cookbook and some of the recipes and stories in it. We laughed, teared up and just had a good ole time! Karlie mentioned that her mom made “THE BEST Cornbread Stuffing” ever touched by her lips. Everyone in Karlie’s family has tried to replicate the recipe since her Momma’s passing, but no one has ever been able to achieve the same flavor and texture as Karlie’s Momma. In Karlie’s southern accent (which I love so much) she said, “It’s just not the same as Momma’s; I swear, it was the oil in her hands!

I feel the same way about all of the recipes made by my grandmother and parents. We all do, right? These recipes are so very special! What favorite recipe did your grandparents or parents make that you just can’t seem to replicate?

My sister, April, just mentioned to me today that she loved our grandmother’s tea; the tea that only she could make in her Whistler glass tea pot, and the Maria biscuits my grandmother knew April loved to dunk inside the hot tea. I remember…

I was reminded of Karlie’s remark this afternoon as I kneaded my homemade pasta dough by hand. “I swear it was the oil in her hands.” You know, I too, swear that bread and/or dough does not come out the same unless you use your hands. Besides that, I feel like I’m part of a tradition – a club of sorts. My grandmother always kneaded things by hand and every recipe was incredible! When I knead dough of any kind, I see her, feel her and remember…

Welcome home, honey!

Yesterday evening I welcomed my hubby home after an arduous week of traveling with homemade ravioli filled with an Italian sausage made with broccoli rabe and Romano cheese. I get this sausage from my favorite wholesale club, BJs! The brown butter sauce flavored with bits of sausage was incredible!

This made 10 large round ravioli and the recipe can certainly be doubled if you are making for your family. Mike and I enjoyed a quiet evening of ravioli and reading! I am enjoying Diana Gabladon’s Outlander!

Begin by making your pasta dough. It super fun and easy! I promise!

Place your flour on a clean, dry surface. Make a well and add eggs, egg yolk, salt, olive oil and a little water. Using a fork, beat the wet mixture inside the well and slowly incorporate all of the flour into the egg mixture. Once most of the wet mixture has been incorporated into the flour, it’s time to have some fun! Begin kneading the dough for about ten minutes or until it’s tight and smooth. You may need to add a tablespoon of water or so if the dough is too dry. Flour is a finicky thing and the weather will also determine if you need to add a little more water as well.

Once the dough is tight and smooth, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it to rest for 30 minutes to an hour. You can also keep in the refrigerator for several days until your ready to use!

While your dough rests, make your sausage filling:

In a saute pan, brown your sausage and onion. Add garlic and salt and cook two minutes more. Place mixture in a food processor and pulse until a bit smoother. Add allspice and nutmeg. Allow mixture to cool. Once the mixture is cooled, add one egg and stir well; cover and place in the refrigerator. Reserve the pan with the sausage drippings for your brown butter sauce.

At this time you can also have your pasta and filling in the refrigerator for another day!

If you are ready to make your ravioli, cut your dough in a few pieces. Begin with one piece and cover the rest of the dough while you work. Run your dough through your pasta machine on the thickest setting, fold, run through again. Now decrease the thickness each time you run the past dough through. Run it through until you get the thickness you’d’ like.

Once your pasta dough is rolled out, place the sheets on a flat surface. Fill with two tablespoons of your sausage filling and brush a little (not a lot) of water around the sausage mixture. This will be the glue that keeps the ravioli from opening up and your filling inside. Use a round cutter to cut out your ravioli or a pizza cutter. However you decide to cut your ravioli, just be sure a little water has been brushed on the edges so that the ravioli will not open up while boiling. Set aside while you make your brown butter sauce.

Now it’s time to make your brown butter sauce! Oh, this is yummy!

Using a paper towel remove some of the grease from the pan the sausage was browned in, leaving most of the bits at the bottom of the pan. Add butter and sage and brown over medium high heat. With a wooden spoon grab all of the sausage bits on the bottom of the pan – that’s where you’ll add even more flavor to this sauce! Add cream or chicken stock and season with pepper.

Place ravioli in a boiling pot of salted water. Cook for about two to three minutes adorn with brown butter and garnish with fresh Parmigiano Reggiano cheese! open wide and enjoy!