Confessions of a Reluctant Cook

I admit it. I would rather not cook. It's not that I'm a bad cook -- I'm actually pretty decent. It's just that I would prefer to have someone call me to a delicious meal than to be the one doing the calling. From time to time, however, I am inspired to try my culinary hand at something I've never done before. This week that inspiration came from another blog, that of my friend, Ben, author of Kissing the Cook, specifically his wonderful ravioli recipe. I decided that I was going to try my hand at making homemade ravioli with a homemade filling. I learned a few things in the process.

Lesson #1: It always takes longer than you think it will.  I'll cut to the chase. I started at 5PM. We ate at 9PM.
Lesson #2: Small ravioli are harder to make than large ravioli.  The smaller the ravioli, the messier it is to stuff and seal.
Lesson #3: If you're going to cook something you've never made before, don't split your attention by trying to make meat sauce for a lasagna at the same time. When you do that, it takes longer to complete your project. (Refer to Lesson #1.)

Ok, so on to the ravioli. I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour, which made the dough a little harder to knead and roll. (Lesson #4 - Forget the whole wheat flour, and Lesson #5 - get a better rolling pin.) It resulted in ravioli with thicker pasta than I would have liked and required longer to cook. In spite of the chewiness, the ravioli was tasty enough to convince me (and my family) to try it again. I liked the filling enough to double the recipe and use it in my lasagna the following day. And if my next attempt at ravioli is successful, I'm going to start experimenting with different fillings. Of course, there's always the possibility that I'll hit the lottery, become fabulously wealthy and hire an Italian cook to prepare my meals for me. In the meantime, I'll keep looking to my friend, Ben, the cook for occasional inspiration of the culinary kind to keep me motivated in the kitchen.


Ballo ergo sum,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva