Guest Post: Victoria of Mission: Food

I will be featuring a few guest bloggers over the next week as I vacation in Jordan with family & friends. Today I feature Victoria, a woman I have known since I was a kid! So funny, but I remember her telling me she was Armenian and I had to ask where that country was. It is amazing that now, so many years later, I am married to an Armenian! Anyway, enjoy her post, it is a good one! Thanks again Victoria!

It is with great pleasure that I submit this guest blog post for RhodeyGirl Tests.  Most of you may not know this, but I’ve known Sabrina since 7^th grade.  I remember making chocolate truffles together (unsuccessfully) for a foreign language class we were both taking.  It was the only time we ever cooked together, but even then, I knew we shared a passion for food and cooking, and I’m so excited to see what a wonderful blog she has developed, all these years later.

Although I’m not Italian as she is, I decided to try my hand at making fresh ravioli using delicious, summery flavors that also reflected my Armenian heritage.  Eggplant and mint were two flavors I knew I wanted to use.  Goat cheese immediately followed.  I decided to mellow out the goat cheese tang a little bit with some fresh ricotta, which was also an exploration for me because I ended up making cheese for the first time ever!  The filling also makes an excellent topping for Crostini if you have leftovers, or if you just want to skip the pasta-making process

All in all, I hope you all enjoy this recipe and will visit my blog, Mission: Food for more fun recipes and culinary musings.  Finally, I’m hosting a really fun contest on my blog for readers to create recipes using tea as an ingredient.  The deadline is July 9^th, so please feel free to check it out for more details, and I look forward to your submissions!

Roasted Eggplant and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Mint-Walnut Pesto
Makes About 5 Dozen Ravioli, Serving 4-6

Pesto:
3 cups fresh mint leaves
½ cup walnuts
4 cloves garlic
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 T. grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Filling:
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese (or store-bought, drained)
4 oz goat cheese
1 eggplant (1 ½ lbs)
1 head garlic (minus the 4 cloves for the pesto)
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the pesto, add the mint leaves, walnuts, and garlic to a food processer and puree until fairly smooth.  With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream through the hole in the top of the food processor.  Scrape down the sides and pulse again.  Pour pesto into a bowl and stir in the cheese.  Season pesto with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

To make the filling, take the head of garlic (minus the cloves used for the pesto) and peel away the outer layers, leaving the garlic cloves in their skins.  Carefully trim off the top of the garlic head, exposing the cloves within.  Put the head of garlic on a piece of foil and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Wrap up the foil, enclosing the garlic within and place on a sheet pan.  Take the whole eggplant, and prick it all over with a fork. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and place on the sheet pan next to the garlic.  Roast until the eggplant has slightly collapsed and is fork tender, and the garlic has developed a light golden hue and is soft to the touch, about 30-40 minutes.  If one roasts faster than the other, remove it from the sheet pan when done, and let the other finish.

Let the eggplant cool slightly and peel it.  Roughly chop the eggplant and add it to the food processor bowl.  Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and add the garlic to the food processor.  Let the eggplant and garlic cool to room temperature and then add the goat cheese, ricotta cheese and mint leaves.  Puree until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the dough, put the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the eggs and turn the machine on to low to allow the flour to slowly absorb the eggs.  Scrape down the sides if needed.  When the dough begins to come together in a ball, turn the speed up another notch and allow the dough hook to knead the dough for a few minutes.  Remove the dough from the mixer and knead by hand for a few more minutes until it is nice and smooth.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for an hour to rest.

To assemble, roll out the pasta dough in batches using a pasta roller.  Roll the pasta as thin as possible without tearing it, and then lay the sheets on a lightly floured surface.  Using a teaspoon, carefully place dollops of filling on the pasta, leaving a little space in between.  Brush a little water along the edges and between the dollops of filling to help seal the ravioli.  Carefully place another strip of dough over the one with the filling and press to seal the edges and squeeze out any air.  Use a pizza cutter or ravioli cutter to cut and trim the raviolis.  Place them aside on a lightly floured sheet pan while you prepare the rest of the raviolis.  Repeat for the remaining dough.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and add salt.  Gently boil the raviolis, making sure the water is not agitating the raviolis too much, or they may tear.  The fresh raviolis will only take a few minutes to cook until they are al dente.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the raviolis and put them in a large bowl (make sure you reserve at least some of the pasta water, you will need it!).  Add some mint-walnut pesto to the cooked raviolis along with some pasta water, and carefully toss with a large spoon until nicely coated.  Add more pesto or pasta water as needed.  Serve with a sprig of mint to garnish.

Related Posts:
Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli
Guest Post: Jenn of Girl Heroes
Guest Post: Jewelry Designer Susan B.