Butternut Squash Ravioli with Pea Puree

A  lot has been going on in my life these past few months. Most exciting is my retirement from a career in the middle school classroom. I am proud to say I taught 7-8 graders American History, World Geography, and Language Arts for over 2 decades. Phew - I was ready for a change. 

Another exciting announcement is that I wrote a book! It's a children's gardening book. I promise that I'll tell more about that in upcoming blog posts. If you are curious about the book, check it out on Amazon. "Layer by Layer, Row by Row" by David Wood and Tracy Wood. 

The best event and biggest change in my life is that my son got married to the loveliest girl! She is gluten-free, and that has been a new cooking adventure for me! Love it!

Through all the months, I have been cooking. I still love to be in the kitchen. This gourmet ravioli was what I made the very first day of my retirement! True!

Even though my pasta technique is terrible, I never shy away from making it at home. I used to use lots and lots of eggs, but recently, my favorite recipe swaps out eggs for silken tofu - weird, right? But it works amazingly well. You can find my recipe for tofu pasta HERE.  Today I used regular flour in place of the semolina flour and as you can see, the pasta is smooth and silky and strong and it tasted great! I rolled this pasta to the penultimate thickness ($5.00 word). That's 6 on my particular machine.

Just deal with the odd shapes and random pieces of pasta, like I do. 

I boil the odd leftover pieces and saute them in butter and garlic for an afternoon treat. (Amazing! Almost better than the prepared ravioli, strangely)

(Seems like a lot of work....and it is! Save this recipe for when you are in the mood to wash dishes.....)

Here's what you need:

1 small butternut squash
1/2 C walnuts
7 cloves garlic, divided
10 oz frozen peas
1/4 C fresh herbs (chives, basil, parsley)
butter, salt, pepper, olive oil, hot pepper flakes
dollop sour cream

Here's what you do:

Peel and cube the squash. Drizzle olive oil over the cubes and place on baking sheet. Also add 5 cloves of garlic, skins on. Roast until veg is soft. Place squash and walnuts in food processor and add the garlic by squeezing it out of its skin. It will be so amazingly fragrant and delicately flavored! Season with salt and pepper. Blend until desired consistency.

Make the ravioli. Have fun! It's a mess but really fun to do from scratch!

Place frozen peas, herbs, 2 cloves raw garlic, and a few hot pepper flakes

in a pan and saute in a drop of oil until garlic is fragrant. Place peas in food processor and add a dollop of sour cream. Serve the green goodness with the ravioli for a delicious and colorful meal!

Red Curry Ramen

This is a three napkin, dribble on the blouse meal..... and oh so worth it!

Here's what you need:
red pepper
cabbage
red onion
shiitake mushroom (remove the stem)
lots of garlic
lots of fresh ginger
red curry paste (at least 2 T)
1 T brown sugar
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 C (or more) vegetable broth
tofu (firm or extra firm)
ramen noodles

garnish with cilantro, soy sauce, sriracha

Here's what you do:
Slice the veg and saute in a bit of corn oil until soft. Cube the tofu and add it to the veg. Finish by adding the sugar, milk and broth. Mix in the prepared ramen noodles. Simple and delicious.