Chicken, Ricotta and Caramelized Onions Ravioli
Did you know that it’s 1 raviolo and 2 ravioli!
This ravioli has a few steps to it, and well worth the effort. This is how this recipe came to be. I had cooked chicken breasts in my fridge and did not feel like using them for chicken burgers. Than it was Tuesday and so Pasta Night at my house. I thought, great, I will make chicken ravioli for supper. I did a quick search on Pinterest and nothing came up right away, so I guess chicken in ravioli is not common. That did not phase me, but I knew I had to be careful as it is easy to have a tasteless raviolo. Ricotta is bland, chicken is bland but I am not! So I decided to add some color with red peppers, a sweetness by adding caramelized onions and the arugula to add that perfect peppery flavour.
In hind sight, I should have taken a video of how I make the ravioli, oh well, next time. Even though I make my own pasta for these, when I am short on time, I use frozen egg roll sheets, that works really well too!
I served the ravioli with a roasted tomato vodka cream sauce, it was a good balance of flavours and the family scarfed up that food like nobody’s business, so another successful pasta night at the Pepin House.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cooked chicken breasts (quick recipe below)
2 cups ricotta
Zest from one lime or lemon
Juice of half a lime or lemon
2 cup sautéed arugula
2/3 cup diced caramelized onions (recipe below)
½ cup finely diced red pepper
1 egg
2 tsp. smoked paprika (any paprika will do)
1 tbsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS:
Dice the chicken well and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. If rolling out your own pasta dough, roll it out to the before last setting as you want the pasta to hold up to the filling.
Place 1 tablespoon of filling on dough, brush sides of pasta dough with water and close carefully without air bubbles. Set aside on floured baking sheet. Cook in salted boiling water in smallish batches for 4 minutes.
Serve with a sauce you like!
For a lovely vodka cream sauce, simply make a tomato sauce you love, depending on how much you have, add a good bit of vodka to it, (it really does make a difference). Cook off the alcohol, then add cream, check it for seasoning and voilà, vodka cream sauce!
Chicken Breasts with Lemon and Rosemary, Sage and Thyme
Drizzle a pan with olive oil, place branches of the herbs all across the pan, place the chicken breasts over them. Slice your lemon and place lemon on top, season with salt and pepper.
Cook in a 375° F degree oven for 45 minutes or till cooked through.
Caramelized Onions
Finely dice 1 large onion and place into a pan over low heat in 1 tbsp. butter. Add a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Let it cook down till it starts to change color, add 1 tbsp. honey or maple syrup, plain sugar will also work, let it cook slowly till it becomes a golden brown. It’s ready!
