Spinach Ricotta Cavatelli With Tomato Sauce Food

CAVATELLI WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the cavatelli and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water, then drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is soft but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the basil and tomatoes with their juice. Increase the heat to high and cook until the sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Add the cavatelli and the reserved cooking water to the skillet; cook, tossing, until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide among bowls and top with the ricotta and pecorino. Season with salt and pepper.

RICOTTA CAVATELLI

Steps:

• Combine the ricotta, eggs and salt in a large bowl, then stir into the flour. Gently combine with your hands to bring together into a dough. Knead the dough together, adding additional flour until the dough is firm and not sticky. Tightly wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Cut the dough into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll the dough on a lightly-floured surface into a 1/4-inch-thick rope. With a knife, cut the rope into 1/2-inch pieces. Use a bench scraper or your index and third fingers held together to gently press down on each piece, beginning at the top and moving down toward the bottom, dragging the bench scraper toward you and causing the pasta to roll over on itself. Transfer the formed pasta to a lightly-floured baking sheet and let dry at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. (At this point, the pasta can be frozen in a single layer and stored in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer.)
• Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until the cavatelli are al dente and begin to float to the top, 3 to 5 minutes.

HOMEMADE CAVATELLI WITH "LEFTOVER SAUCE"

Steps:

• For the cavatelli: Add the flour to a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, eggs and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir the ricotta mixture into the flour.
• Transfer the mixture to a floured work surface and, using your hands, gently bring the ingredients together to form a dough. Knead the dough together, adding additional flour as necessary, until the dough is firm and not sticky. Tightly wrap the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• On a lightly floured surface, cut the dough into 6 pieces, then roll the pieces into ropes about 1/4 inch in diameter. Cut the ropes into 1/2-inch pieces. Using your thumb or the dull side of a butter knife, press on each piece of dough and pull across the length of it. Continue until all the pasta dough is used. Transfer the pieces to a baking sheet dusted with semolina.
• For the sauce: Warm the tomato sauce with the pulled chicken in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt liberally. Drop in the cavatelli, give them a gentle stir and boil until they begin to float, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Transfer the cavatelli to the sauce along with 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Stir until the pasta is thoroughly combined with the sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, butter and basil, Serve with olive oil and cracked black pepper.

SPINACH-RICOTTA DUMPLINGS WITH GARLIC TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and mash into a chunky sauce using a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 12 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and transfer to a blender; puree.
• Dust a rimmed baking sheet with flour; set aside. Mix the spinach, ricotta, parmesan, egg yolks, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the flour and stir until just combined. Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the flour-dusted pan, shaking the pan from side to side to coat the dumplings in the flour and smooth out their edges. Refrigerate 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add the chilled dumplings and cook until they float to the top and are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel¿lined plate to drain. Serve on top of the tomato sauce and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with more parmesan.

SPINACH RICOTTA CAVATELLI WITH TOMATO SAUCE.

Steps:

• Make the cavatelli: Put the ricotta, spinach, egg yolk and olive oil in a food processor and process to a paste.
• Add the flour, semolina, salt and white pepper and process until the mixture comes together to form a ball.
• Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Make the sauce: Cover the sun-dried tomatoes with hot water and let soak until plumped, about 25 minutes. Drain well and coarsely chop, then transfer to a mini-processor and puree.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the fresh tomatoes and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the tomatoes release their juices, about 3 minutes.
• Add the basil and Chicken Stock, cover and simmer over low heat until the tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes. Strain the sauce, pressing on the tomatoes to extract as much sauce as possible. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and season with salt and black pepper.
• Cut the cavatelli dough into 10 equal pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, using both hands, roll out each piece of dough into a 1/2 -inch-thick rope.
• With a fork, cut the rope into 1/2 -inch pieces. Press the side of the fork lengthwise into the center of each piece. Set the cavatelli on a lightly floured baking sheet.
• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the cavatelli in batches, stirring, until they rise to the surface, about 4 minutes. Drain the cavatelli and divide them among 8 shallow bowls.
• Pour 1/2 cup of the hot tomato sauce over each portion and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of the Parmesan cheese.

SPINACH AND TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Wash and remove stems of spinach, place in a large pot and fill a quarter of the way with water, add salt if desired.
• Bring to a boil and press down spinach, as it wilts, into boiling water.
• Cover for 5 minutes. Than drain and remove most of the water but not necessary to remove all. Set aside.
• Heat olive oil in medium saucepan, cook diced onion and garlic 5 -7 minutes just until translucent.
• Add diced tomatoes, bouillon cubes, basil, pinch of sugar and Salt and pepper to saucepan.
• Bring to just a boil than lower heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes.
• While that's cooking use the same pot that you boiled the spinach in to boil more water for your pasta and cook according to package directions.
• Chop already cooked spinach.
• During the last 5 minutes of cooking pasta add the spinach to your tomato sauce.
• Drain pasta and put back into pot, add a ladel full of sauce and mix so spaghetti does not stick together.
• Place pasta on serving plates and spoon sauce over pasta.
• Sprinkle with Romano cheese and serve.

CROCK POT ZITI WITH SPINACH, RICOTTA, AND TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• For the sauce:.
• Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Brown garlic about 2 minutes then discard the garlic but reserve the oil. To the garlic flavored oil, add the crushed tomatoes, whole onion, butter, 1 teaspoons sea salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Remove onion and discard when done.
• In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, spinach, 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoons salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mix well to combine. Add ziti, toss to combine.
• Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Add about 1/2 cup of sauce, then add 1/4 of the pasta mixture. Repeat 3 more layers (4 layers in total) ending with sauce. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese over the top.
• Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours depending on your slow cooker.
• If you have any sauce left over. Save it in case you want to add more to the finished dish.