Mushroom Ravioli in Butter-Sage Sauce

Recently a friend of ours received boxes of locally-grown, organic mushrooms. One man can only eat so many mushrooms, so T and I were very fortunate recipients of a huge bag of them. They looked unlike anything I had ever seen before. They were huge, with massive caps and lots of little sprouts at the bottom. They smelled like the forrest floor. Following some online exploration, I deemed these mushrooms to be simply "wild mushrooms," that one website suggested only eating them at the discretion of a mycologist, a mushroom expert.

I figured they came from a local farmer, so I threw caution to the wind and threw the mushrooms in some butter and cheese and made musrhoom ravioli!

Now, I'll be honest here. The mushrooms not only smelled like the forest floor, they tasted like it too. But do not be deterred! If you love wild mushrooms, go ahead and use what you can find. Or, play it safe and use mushrooms from the grocery store that are not so strong and full of flavour. (The types recommended below are the store-bought kind, not the wild kind).

Overall, ravioli was simple enough to make (go ahead and check out some YouTube videos for good technique) and tasted good. Next time though, I'll use mushrooms from Loblaws!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds assorted fresh mushrooms (such as button, cremini and shiitake), brushed clean, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium shallots
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 8 sheets fresh pasta
• all purpose flour for dusting

For butter-sage sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent. Stir in parsley and cook one minute more. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently until mushrooms first release their liquid and then liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cook stirring until liquid evaporates. Transfer to a bowl and cool briefly before stirring in parmesan and ricotta. Season with salt and pepper.

• Dust baking sheet with flour; set aside. Place pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place eight heaping measuring teaspoons of mushroom filling along the top third of the sheets, about two inches apart. Moisten pasta around each mount of filling using a pastry brush dipped in water. Fold the dough up and over the filling to enclose, press around filling to seal. Cut between the mounds with a pastry wheel to cut into square ravioli. Transfer to prepared baking sheet a chill until ready to cook. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling.

• In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until the garlic has softened. Stir in the sage and salt for a few seconds.

• At the same time, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook until ravioli float to the top, or about five minutes. Drain. Toss with butter-sage sauce and toss gently with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living