Homemade Bacon Ravioli with Mushrooms

There are many things in my life that I want to do, but have never gotten around to doing, such as:

• Skydive
• Go to Italy/England/Ireland
• Attend a live taping of "Friends" (a little late for that one)

There are many reasons why I haven't done these things, such as financial constraints, time constraints, or courage constraints (as in "I lack the necessary courage to jump out of an airplane").

Yesterday, I was able to accomplish something else on my "Want-To-Do" list: Make fresh pasta.

And now it's all I want to do.  Seriously.  I'm ready to leave teaching and become an artisan pasta maker.  As I stood there, feeding the golden yellow pasta sheets through the mechanism, seeing them get thinner and thinner, hundreds of images seemed to run through my mind at once.  My God, just think of the different combinations, not only in pasta flavors but fillings for things like ravioli or tortellini!

(If you are reading this, and are in any sort of position to be buying me a present for my birthday or Christmas, take this as a BIG hint.)

Visions of red, green, and yellow noodles flew through my mind.  Mushroom fillings, pumpkin fillings, cheese fillings, crab fillings.  Oh, the combinations.  The many, many combinations!

It was like Dr. Seuss for foodies: Would you fill them with some cheese?  Yes sir, yes sir, fill them PLEASE!

I got this recipe out of Food Network Magazine.  They have a feature called "Weekend Cooking", with longer, more complicated recipes, and there's usually a theme.  The theme for this one was...

Bacon.

Yes, bacon.  My best worst friend and the reason why I can't look a piglet in the eye without tearing up.  Every course in the meal (including dessert) featured bacon.  I decided to make it as a surprise for the Sous Chef, who loves bacon so much that he'd probably happily pet a piglet while eating a plateful of bacon.

For this course, the bacon was in the filling, along with leeks, carrots, and Gruyere cheese, with a little ricotta and egg to bind it all together.  The veggies and bacon were cooked in a little water at first, which I think helped get rid of some of the smokiness in the bacon, which would have easily overpowered the other ingredients.

The sauce was decadent, yet light: wild mushrooms, scallions, grape tomatoes, and fresh herbs.  Oh yes, and butter.

I was really surprised how simple it was to make the pasta and ravioli, despite the fact that for years people have been telling me all about just how easy it is.  Well, my friends, now I know.

All of the recipes in the series were pretty easy to follow, from start to finish.  The thing I usually have the most difficulty with is timing - how to make sure all the dishes are ready at the same time.  I had to read those recipes about four times over before I had a clear idea of the order in which I'd have to execute it.  In the last ten minutes, I had all four burners going: asparagus steaming, sauce finishing, water boiling, and Sabayon whisking.

I felt so alive.

Eat well.

You can find the recipes for the entire meal online at the Food Network Magazine website: Bacon ravioli with mushrooms, Asparagus with bacon Sabayon, and Mini bacon cheesecakes.