RAVIOLI, TORTELLINI AND CAPPELLETTI

How exciting! A package came in the mail this week in a big yellow box.

Our friends in Italy were thougthful and stuffed a box full of Italian goodies. And you wonder why we miss this country...the people are amazing and so is their food! We couldn't really read the labels, but we do know that it is pasta, pasta sauce, cookies, chocolates and more chocolates! Buon Appettito indeed!

So with Italian inspiration, let's make pasta! It was time to try those stuff't little bundles of  pasta:

Ravioli, Cappelleti and Tortellini.

The word ravioli is reminiscent of the Italian verb riavvolgere, "to wrap".

Spinach, mushroom, garlic, parmesan cheese all "wrapped" up in skins.

Now if that wasn't neat, let's look at Cappelletti.

 What does it look like?

Can you guess, without look further?

What the pasta might look like from the name?

It looks like the Popes cap! Holy Cow...it's Holy Pasta!

and finally, I'll leave you to decide what you feel about Tortellini.

Would you eat tortellini after hearing this?

Would you be offended if someone served this to you?

Tortellini- Stories say that this dish was born in Castelfranco Emilia .One night during a trip, Lucrezia Borgia checked into an inn in the small town. Over the course of the night the host became so captivated by Lucrezia's beauty that he could not resist the urge to peek into her room through the keyhole. The bedroom was only lit by a few candles, and so he could merely see her navel. This pure and innocent vision was enough to send him into an ecstasy that inspired him to create the tortellini that night.

Did that offend you?! haha.

These tortellini's look like outties! :)

So past all the silliness, here are all the stuf't pastas lined up together for their class photo.

Ladies and gentlemen, the class of Make-it-on-sunday-and-eat-during-the week!

That's right! You can make these ahead of time. Want to know a neat thing about making these kinds of pastas? You really don't need a pasta maker. Just roll out fresh pasta and fill them and if you don't have time to roll out pasta, but you want homemade ravioli, try using wanton skins for a quick homemade stuffed pasta. Chef Sandra Lee would be proud of you since it's semi-homemade! :)

These were made ahead of time on sunday and stuck into the freezer to eat later in the week. There's a specialness to eating things right when they're made so I made four bigger sized raviolis, pan-fried em', shaved some parm cheese and served it hot as an appetizer for dinner that day.

And for dinner tonight, they were served up with some soup. I call it "Florentine Soup" because it's simple with ingredients left close to their natural form. Chicken, Kale, Purple Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Corn, Garlic and Basil in a broth. Very colorful! and you know what that meants. It screams,

"I have lots of vitamins and minerals that are good for youuuu! "

and the star of the show dressed and ready for the main event...

WHOA!! Watch out. It's piping hot!

Take 2...

Little Pope's hats and belly buttons dressed with a sage butter sauce. :)  

Served with "Florentine" rosemary-infused beans. After demystification, all it means is:
salt, pepper and rosemary beans. 

Veggies used in this post: spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, carrots, peas, kale, purple potatoes, sage, corn, rosemary, kidney beans and cannelini beans. Is success a vegetable? haha.


Time to eat!

Here's your portion.

Buon Appettito, friends! Thanks for reading and encouraging me!

Hubby, thanks for sharpening my knives for me today!

FY