Sunny weather, good beer, and ricotta

Today, the weather was perfect. I enjoyed every second of driving in the car with the windows down, picnicking outside with the kids I babysit, and cooking with my backdoor open! Sipping on Annie's Raspberry Ale, I made 3 delicious recipes today. The first is one that you can already find on my blog: my marinara sauce. Another is a recipe that you can find on a fellow Raleigh chef's blog. The final one is mine!

Yesterday, I was browsing my regular blog favorites...the Wednesday Chef, Everybody Likes Sandwiches, Tea and Cookies, and, alas, GiustoGusto. Paul Tuorto is a talented chef, graphic designer, and blogger. His recipe that I tried today has me swearing that I will never, and I mean never, buy ricotta again. That's right... it's homemade ricotta. I would be a fraud if I posted his recipe on my website, so give my fellow Raleigh Blogger a visit and make his ricotta recipe! (http://www.paultuorto.com/giustogusto/)

I had a ton of leftover egg roll wrappers from my barbecue egg rolls, so I decided to use them for ravioli. This ravioli recipe was an excellent way of clearing out the fridge. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Ricotta Ravioli
Egg roll wrappers
1 egg + 1 Tbsp. water

Filling:
1/2-1 cup spinach
1/2 cup homemade ricotta
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 egg
a few slices of salami

Wilt spinach with about 1 Tbsp water over medium-low heat in a covered pot for 5 minutes. Combine all filling ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well mixed.

Cut a wrapper into 4 equal pieces on a cutting board. Brush 2 pieces with the egg and
water mixture. Using a tablespoon, arrange a dollop of the filling on 2 wrappers. Place other wrapper pieces directly on top, pressing around the filling and sealing the edges.

In a large pot, bring to a boil 4 quarts of salted and oiled water. Carefully add small batches of ravioli, about 2 to 3 at a time. This will prevent them from crowding in the pot and sticking together. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a spider strainer, carefully remove the ravioli and place on the plate. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue cooking remaining ravioli.

Top with marinara.