Spinach Pesto Ravioli's

Who doesn't love fresh homemade pasta?  Fresh homemade pasta is like nothing else in this world and when you pair it with fresh spinach pesto you just can't go wrong!  I will admit homemade pasta is time consuming but if you make it with your family or a group of friends it is fun and the time just flies by!

Here we are starting the dough.  This could be done in the Kitchen Aid but we wanted to do it by hand this time.

 Here is my spinach pesto.  I used fresh spinach (about a pound), garlic,olive oil, roasted walnut oil, salt, pepper and some parmesan cheese.  Whirled it around in the food processor and it was done.  This was super tasty on crackers.  Yes, I was snacking.  :)

 We rolled the dough out using my Kitchen Aid pasta attachment and then we made the raviolis.  I used 1 egg, a small container of ricotta cheese and about 1/2 the pesto for the filling. 

We let these dry for about 2 hours while we made a our sauce.  It was very simple I just used 2 cans of tomato sauce, a spoonful of pesto and some roasted garlic red pepper seasoning.  We then put together a salad with spinach, romaine, green onions and tomatoes.  The bread sticks were store bought but I will make them next time.

Ready for the best part of this?  This meal cost under $20 and fed 5 people.  The fresh flavors of this wake up your taste buds and make you smile.  Make this and your family will love you!

Confessions of a Cheese Snob

I will admit it I am a cheese snob.  I love cheese but, only if it is good cheese.  If you offer me that sliced processed junk that some people think is cheese I will do my best not to turn up my nose but I will not eat it.  I have been known to order my fast food without cheese and take the food home to add my own Tillamook cheese.  I guess some people might think that is weird but hey, that is just me. 

With that said I have to admit I made mac and cheese with that processed stuff and some powdered cheese and to my complete surprise it was pretty tasty.  It all started because I was canning some chicken and had leftover chicken stock... here is what I did.

4 cups chicken stock
2 cups macaroni noodles (I didn't really measure just guessed)
16 oz of processed cheese cubed
1 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup cheese powder
salt and pepper to taste

Add the noodles to the hot stock and cook until noodles are al dente.  Stir in the processed cheese and butter until melted.  Sprinkle the cheese powder in slowly just to thicken it up a little.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

There you go!  That is it... how easy is that?  The boys loved this and I thought it was pretty darn good.  It is not like real mac n cheese but it is much better than that blue box stuff.  :)