Historical Raviolis! The fourth filling (somewhat English)

See the previous post from September 1 for the dough recipe and first filling recipe, the September 15 one for the second filling, and also the October 1 one for the third filling.

My daughter and I decided to experiment with 14th and 15th century recipes for raviolis.  We had to redact the recipes ourselves, working from the lists given but having to figure out quantities by taste and goal.

We were working from a website that looked like a good class handout for a Society for Creative Anachronism workshop, called "Pasta Class" and found at this link:  http://www.katjaorlova.com/PastaClass.html

After successfully redacting three fillings for boiled raviolis, we decided to try a fried version.  The Pasta Class document lists some fried raviolis and some other books we perused mentioned them, too.  We wanted something sweet, so we adapted the recipe for Emeles, a medieval almond cake, as the filling.

England + Italy = Middle East

2.5 ounces ground almonds
1/2 ounce graham cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 tablespoons honey

Mix the ingredients well.  Like in the previous filling recipe, we chose not to use an egg to bind the mixture for two reasons:  one was that we made a small amount of filling and one egg might have been too much and the other was that the honey seemed to be doing a good job of binding by itself.  It went into the refrigerator while we worked on the dough.

We used graham cracker crumbs because I already had them handy.  Dried bread crumbs would work well, too.

The mixture turned out to look like what we expected for the Emeles:

Nutty, sweet, and spiced

We made a second batch of dough only this time I added a tablespoon of sugar to the flour.  By the way, I had to add a lot more flour to the recipe to get the right texture for rolling.  I am convinced the original recipe contains a typo.

We rolled the entire batch out into a rectangle, cut it in half, and covered one half with a damp towel to keep it from drying out.  

We scored the bottom dough and portioned out the filling.  Oops!  There was not enough filling for what we planned, so we used some of the leftover cheddar/bacon/chicken filling for the rest.

I should have doubled the filling amounts as I had first planned

Then we wet the scored edges and placed the top dough, pushing out the air and making neat little packets, then cut them apart.

This time I fried them a few at a time in about 1/4 inch of hot vegetable oil until they were a delightful brown on both sides and crispy.

Too many at once and the oil has a hard time staying at the right temperature

After that I drained them on paper towels and dusted them with a cinnamon and cardamom sugar mix.

The Verdict

This was incredibly tasty.  In fact, they tasted like mini-baklavas!  We were not expecting that and it was quite a treat.  They were crispy, spicy-sweet, and nutty with a depth of flavor from the honey.  They were not greasy -- I credit frying only a few at a time.

Success!

The only thing I would change is that we didn't roll the dough out to be as thin as we had for the boiled raviolis.  It wasn't translucent.  I think the raviolis would have been crispier if we had.  I'm not complaining, mind you!  They were delicious.  I would do it again to surprise people with the flavor.

One thought:  If I were feeling lazy or in a hurry, I might use purchased won-ton skins instead.  They are thin and pre-cut and I know they fry up well.

Historical Raviolis! The third filling (Italy)

See the previous post from September 1 for the dough recipe and first filling recipe and also the September 15 one for the second filling.

My daughter and I decided to experiment with 14th and 15th century recipes for raviolis.  We had to redact the recipes ourselves, working from the lists given but having to figure out quantities by taste and goal.

We were working from a website that looked like a good class handout for a Society for Creative Anachronism workshop, called "Pasta Class" and found at this link:  http://www.katjaorlova.com/PastaClass.html

This third filling was chosen partially because of the fun name and the rest because it was set up to accept most any kind of herb.  We chose basil.

Ravioli ready to serve of herbs fantastic, Libro di cucina, 15^th Century

If you want to make ravioli of herbs or of other things, take herbs and peel (take leaves only) and wash well; then boil it a little and pull them out and squeeze away all the water.  Chop with a knife and put in a mortar and take cheese fresh and strained, egg and spices sweet and strong and mix well together and make a paste.  Then take  thin pasta in the way of lasagne and take a large amount and make the ravioli.  When they are made put to cook and when they are well cooked powder above enough spices with good cheese and they are good.

Our Redaction

2 cups of basil leaves, lightly packed

1 ounce Provel cheese, softened*

1 ounce Pecorino Romano cheese, shredded

1/8 tsp Poudre Fines**

*Provel is a St. Louis, Missouri specialty cheese that can be read about here.  You can use mozzarella or provolone in its place.  My daughter finds these wonders and brings them for me to try.   : )

** Poudre Fines is a medieval spice mix that came home with me from the Culinary Symposium I attended in March.  It is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, and saffron, all ground.  

We used more basil than what is shown here.

To cook the basil, we treated it like spinach and cooked it with just the water that stuck from washing it.  The 2 cups reduced quickly to a little lump in the pan.  

After squeezing out the water, we chopped the basil to bits.  Then we mixed in the cheeses and spices.  We decided that our quantity was so small that an egg was unnecessary -- the Provel bound everything together well.  We chilled the filling and that made it easier to handle.

Well mixed after well chopped

We used one quarter of the pasta dough, rolled thinly and then scored as we did for the previous two recipes.  

Then they were covered and cut.  Using the same hot broth water from the other raviolis, we boiled them for just a few minutes.  

The Verdict

Success!  This was excellent, too.  Three great flavors in a row!  I love the taste of basil (it is one of my favorite herbs/spices and makes me happy just to sniff it) so this was fun to eat.  Of the three tasters, one said it was her favorite flavor, one said it was her second favorite, and the third thought the basil was too strong.  

I thought the cheese moderated the basil flavor well and gave a creamy texture to the otherwise herbaceous mouth feel.  I liked it plain but also with a light dusting of grated Parmesan cheese.

We did these three fillings as boiled raviolis.  The fourth, in the next post, was fried.