Smoked Mozzarella Little Ravioli in Chicken Broth

My Mom had made these little ravioli's flavored with lemon zest and nutmeg from The Italian Farmer's Table by Matthew Scialabba and Melissa Pellegrino and they were absolutely delicious served in our homemade chicken broth. If you want to learn how to make some really authentic Northern Italian food, my Mom suggests buying this book. You won't be disappointed. She said that these little ravioli tasted very similar to the capelletti that her Nonni used to make when she was a kid except that capelletti have meat in them and...these were easier to make. So, in the spirit of the Eat Local Challenge, we changed the recipe a bit since lemons definitely don't grow in Salt Lake City. Since we love all our local cheeses, we thought that using smoked mozzarella from www.goldcreekfarms.com would give these ravioli a great flavor. We actually ate them with our Eggplant and Tomato Sauce for a totally local meal! 

Make sure you only put a thin layer on the dough so that each ravioli will seal when cut.

If they don't seal, don't worry. The flavor just comes out in the broth!

Ready for the freezer

Ingredients:

6 ounces ricotta cheese (homemade using Winder Farms 2% milk and buttermilk)
2 ounces smoked mozzarella (Gold Creek Farms)
2 ounces grated parmesan cheese (Gold Creek Farms)
1 large egg (Clifford Family Farm)
pinch of Redmond Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe basic pasta dough (see earlier post)
1 quart homemade chicken broth (see earlier post)

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, salt, pepper and egg until thoroughly combined.
2. On a clean surface that is lightly dusted with flour, roll out the pasta into an 18-inch circle. Spread a thin layer of the cheese mixture over the top half of the dough. Fold over the top half of the dough over the filling to create a semi-circle. Lightly press to remove any air. With a handheld pasta cutter, cut the dough into long vertical strips, about 1/2 inch wide. Then cut horizontally every 1/2 inch to create small squares.
3. Place the stuffed ravioli on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for at least one hour. Once frozen, you can place the ravioli into a plastic bag or container and store in your freezer for later use.
4. In a medium-large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add a little salt. Drop the ravioli into the broth and gently simmer until tender. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and serve with grated parmesan cheese.
Adapted from The Italian Farmer's Table
go to www.finecooking.com for more instructions via video
options:
-The original recipe calls for stracchino cheese which we could not find in Salt Lake City so we just substituted mozzarella. I think you can add any semi-soft cheese in it's place.
- Use regular mozzarella cheese and then add one tablespoonful lemon zest and pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. My Mom told me that her Nonni, who was from the Emilia-Romagna area of Italy, used lemon zest and nutmeg in a lot of her stuffed pasta recipes.-Serve with our homemade Eggplant Pasta Sauce instead of serving in chicken broth.