Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Cream Sauce

After discovering how to make fresh pasta, I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was make ravioli. I have always loved vegetarian ravioli, especially with cheese or spinach and cheese fillings. This recipe is pretty easy to make and if you don't want to both making the pasta yourself, you could buy fresh pasta of use wonton wrappers.

I don't have the proper kitchen equipment to make perfect ravioli so I had to hand-form all the pieces, which became pretty time consuming. This would be much easier (and prettier) with a ravioli mold. When making the filling, taste if before filling the ravioli to make sure the salt and pepper amounts are to your liking.

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Mom's Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those comfort foods that always seems to do the trick. Layers of cheese, pasta and bolognese are hard to resist, especially on a cold evening or after a long hike. Sometimes, though, you don't need a reason at all and it tastes just as good. Earlier this week my mom made her lasagna, the same recipe she's used since I was a kid, and I finally decided to help out and take some notes.

You can tweak a lasagna in so many ways and it is still delicious. This is just one of the many, many options out there, but it's straightforward and it's one that I love. As much as I love vegetables, I have always preferred meat lasagna over a vegetarian one. Maybe it's because I've never had a really good vegetarian variation before, but I haven't actually attempted to make one from scratch. For now, I will stick with this meat version.

The sauce can be made using a combination of two parts beef to one part turkey, or all beef. You can use lean meat if you want to keep part of it healthy, but with all the cheese you'll be adding, I wouldn't consider this a healthy meal. I used the no boiling required lasagna sheets, but if you use the traditional pasta, make sure to cook it beforehand or while making the sauce. Hopefully you can enjoy this with a glass of wine in front of a fire. But like most of us, it will probably be gobbled down in 5 minutes.
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