Swiss Chard Bacon And Ricotta Ravioli With Tomato Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil while you prepare the chard. Fill a bowl with ice water. Tear the leaves from the stems and wash thoroughly in two changes of water. Discard the stems or set aside for another purpose.
• When the water comes to a boil, add the Swiss chard leaves. Boil 1 minute (from the time the water comes back to a boil), until tender but still bright green, then remove from the water with a slotted spoon or skimmer and transfer to the ice water. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely and set aside. Cook the lasagna noodles in the same pot of water if not using no-boil lasagna. Remove from the pot and toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil in a bowl.
• In a wide, nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook, stirring, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil sprig, and salt (begin with 1/2 teaspoon and add more later), and bring to a simmer. Simmer, stirring often, until thick, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the amount of juice in the pan. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove the basil sprig. Stir in the Swiss chard and remove from the heat.
• Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Oil a square or rectangular baking dish (no bigger than 2-quart) and line the bottom with a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread half the ricotta over the noodles and half the tomato-chard sauce over the ricotta. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over the tomato-chard sauce. Add another layer of noodles and top with the remaining ricotta and tomato-chard sauce, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Finish with a layer of noodles and the remaining Parmesan. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the top. Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake 30 minutes, or until bubbling and the pasta is tender. Uncover, allow to sit for 5 minutes, and serve.

Steps:

• Finely chop Swiss chard (you should have about 6 packed cups). In a large non-stick skillet sauté onions, garlic, and pine nuts in oil over moderately high heat until onion is softened and pine nuts are a few shades darker. Stir in olives, raisins, and half of Swiss chard and cook, stirring, until chard is slightly wilted. Stir in remaining chard and season with salt and pepper. Cook filling, covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until chard is tender, about 5 minutes and cool. Chill filling, uncovered, at least 1 hour or, covered, up to 1 day.
• Set smooth rollers of pasta machine on widest setting. Cut dough into 4 pieces and wrap 3 of them separately in plastic wrap. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into rectangle and feed through rollers. Fold rectangle in half and feed through rollers 8 or 9 more times, folding in half each time and dusting in half as necessary to prevent sticking.
• Turn dial down to next (smaller) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through, without folding, making space between rollers narrower each time, until narrowest setting is reached and pasta is about 3 1/2 inches wide.
• Put pasta sheet on work surface with long side facing you and put packed teaspoon of filling 2 inches apart lengthwise along half of the pasta sheet (you should have 10 to 12 mounds). Around each mound of filling brush dough very lightly with water. Fold dough lengthwise in half over mounds of filling, gently pressing around mounds to force out any air, and seal edges well. With a fluted pastry wheel trim edges and cut between mounds of filling to separate ravioli.
• Line a large tray with a dry kitchen towel and arrange ravioli in one layer. Make more ravioli with remaining 3 pieces of dough and remaining filling in same manner, transferring to kitchen-towel-lined tray and arranging in one layer. Ravioli may be made 8 hours ahead and chilled on towel-lined tray, covered loosely with plastic wrap.
• In an 8-quart kettle bring 7 quarts of salted water to a boil. Cool ravioli until tender, 3 to 4 minutes, and drain in a colander. In a heated large bowl immediately toss ravioli with sauce.
• Serve ravioli with Parmesan.

Steps:

• Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted water, making sure to keep it quite al dente.
• Put butter in a wide deep skillet over medium heat. Add drained pasta to the pan and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, if using.
• Add tomato sauce gradually and stir to coat pasta, using only enough sauce for a light coating (you may not need the entire 2 1/2 cups).
• Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl and dot top with spoonfuls of ricotta. Sprinkle lightly with pecorino and garnish with a few torn basil leaves.

Steps:

• Make filling:
• In a large heavy skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp and with a slotted spatula transfer to a cutting board. Chop bacon fine. Remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and heat remaining fat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Cook chard and garlic, stirring, until chard is tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer chard mixture to a bowl and cool. To chard mixture add cheeses, 2 tablespoons bacon, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a gentle boil.
• Put a won ton wrapper on a lightly floured surface and mound 1 tablespoon filling in center of wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with water and put a second wrapper over first, pressing down around filling to force out air. Seal edges well and transfer ravioli to a kitchen towel. Make more ravioli with remaining wrappers and filling in same manner, turning them occasionally to dry slightly. Cook ravioli in water at a gentle boil 6 to 8 minutes, or until they rise to surface and are tender. (Do not let water boil vigorously once ravioli have been added.) With a slotted spoon transfer ravioli as cooked to a kitchen towel to drain.
• Divide ravioli between 2 plates and spoon sauce over them. Garnish ravioli with remaining tablespoon bacon.