One meatless meal a week

My husband is a meat man.  He likes potatoes- but for him it is all about

the meat.  Not fish, not pasta, not veggies.

But really- he needs less red meat.

So Iโ€™m going to try one meatless meal a week.

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Tonight it was homemade ravioli with mushroom and onion, sauteed in browned butter

and crumbled sage.  I got the recipe for the  sauce and kind of used the noodle ingredients-

you know, flour salt and eggs? – here. It is an Alton Brown recipe from off of Food Network.com.

But he had a sausage center, and this is supposed to be meatless, so I substituted the filling

for a mushroom and onion mix that I sauteed onions and mushrooms and added salt and a sprinkle

of sage.    After it cooked down about 10 minutes, I added a half cup of plain yogurt and 1/4 cup

of Romano cheese.

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3 cups flour

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon salt

1 good slug of olive oil (about 3 Tablespoons )

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl, create a well, and whip up the eggs and the other

wet ingredients in a measuring cup and pour into the well.  Mix the flour into the

egg mixture, a little at a time, until your dough is holding well together.  Then dump the

entire mess onto your counter or bread board and knead the lump of dough for 8 to 10

minutes until it is smooth.  You may not use up all the flour, but that is fine.   Flatten

into a disc , put into a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for about an hour.

Then, spread flour on your counter and roll out VERY THIN!

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And in a rectangle- make sure it is very thin.

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Now cut into small squares.

011Make up a egg wash-whip an egg up with some water and

spread onto one line of squares.

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Place a small amount of mushroom filling- about a teaspoon- in the center of the eggy square.

014Place the square in the next row on top and smooth around the

filling and then seal the  edges as you push the air out from the center.

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You can leave the edges plain or use the tines of a fork to help seal the edges.

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Have a pot of salted boiling water ready on the stovetop.

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And drop the ravioli into the water one at a time- donโ€™t overfill the pot- and let them

cook for about 7 to 10 minutes.  Have a skillet with browned butter(1/4 cup) next to the pan of boiling

This is my very favorite part of the whole recipe!!!

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Because right after you brown them a little- your meal is ready to EAT!!!

AND-Frank said he liked it. 

He didnโ€™t love it- but he liked it- and that is pretty amazing.

12 thoughts on “One meatless meal a week

  1. That recipe sounds really good! You put a lot of work into it! And I’m glad Frank liked it. I made something one time, very proud of what it turned out like, and your brother told me I can make it again in **15** years!! He didn’t say he didn’t like it, though. And to this day, we can’t remember what it was ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Frank said he liked it. It was very tasty- but he wasn’t fond of it.
      I have some trouble with the faint praise- but really would like him to cut down on the red meat- so faint or not- we will be repeating this. Especially since Jordan and I both loved it.

  2. Happy he liked it! Maybe he will be able to go meatless one meal a week. Not sure he will be able to cut down on beef. Your ravioli looks and sounds delicious.

    • This was so very good. Jordan and I relished each bite- Frank ate like he was being such a good person for eating it without any complaint.
      It was enough to feed us all and have enough leftovers to share with someone.

  3. Dear Heidi,

    This ravioli looks great. There are some great Indian vegetarian curry restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore that serve things like Tandoori chicken, beef and lamb curry that tastes spectacularly similar to real meat. Being a meat lover myself, I am amazed at the flavours, tastes and textures of these dishes everytime I visit.

    Before I go to these restaurants (usually through coaxing of friends), I always lower my expectations being a vegetarian meal but I always come out feeling absolutely satisfied that it was delicious like the real stuff!

    • Dear Chopinand,
      So you can understand Frank’s problem. He enjoys the meal, but somehow has missed the texture or strength of the meat. I think the problem he has with seafood is also about texture- it just feels wrong in his mouth.
      I can’t stand bananas and gelatins for that same reason- they feel wrong in my mouth.
      Oh well, I’m going to keep trying, ๐Ÿ™‚

    • He really is a hardcore case, Brydie!
      He can’t stand tofu or other soy products, eggplant has to be hidden completely before he will eat it, and the only vegetable he really likes is corn.
      I’m not going to quit trying though- Eggplant Parmigiana will be next week’s offering if I can find a couple of nice eggplant.

  4. Those look beautiful and quite a lot of work too! Well done to Frank for giving it a go, it’s hard work to change one’s eating habits. If it’s any consolation I don’t like tofu which always reminds me of wet blotting paper in taste even when supposedly marinated in this that and the other. What I do like a lot are oven roasted vegetables which get a lovely sticky almost meaty sweetness to them and if you do them in big chunks, they have a good strong mouthfeel to them too. Potatoes, sweet and regular are good, garlic bulbs roasted whole, onions, aubergine chunks, red peppers, and you could always strew corn over the top too. Does Frank eat minced beef dishes? I have a recipe for something called red dragon pie which is almost convincing if you add plenty of strong flavours to it. I hope the new project goes well ๐Ÿ™‚

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