Spinach Ravioli with Mushroom Cream Sauce (Saturday, February 19, 2011)

The last batch of ravioli turned out so great I've been planning to make more since taking the initial bite.  This time though, I wanted it to be more simple so I decided a spinach and cheese filling would be easiest. I made pasta as I did last time with 4 cups of flour and 6 eggs.  For the filling I blanched 1 lb of fresh spinach in super salty water for about a minute and then submerged it in a super salty ice bath.  I let this drain in a collander, then squeezed as much water out as possible and chopped roughly.  I whipped 15 ounces of ricotta with one egg, and some other leftover cheeses I had around.  These included a bit of sheep's milk gruyere (featured in the French Onion soup), some Parmigiana Reggiano and some Pecorino Romano (sheep milk again).  After all this was whipped up I added the spinach and mixed until the clumps had broken up.  During commercial breaks of the season finale of Gold Rush Alaska, Friday's most watched new series, I managed to roll out 3 big sheets of pasta.  With a full size spoon I made large dollops of the filling on the sheets, painted in between each on with water, folded half of the sheet over and sealed each one keeping out any air pockets.
Now, these ravioli's do freeze, but last time I made the mistake of piling them into ziplocks and throwing them in the freezer; bad idea.  When I took them out and boiled them later, they fell apart because they were stuck together and as they separated they ripped.  This time, I laid the extras out on a sheet pan and froze them without letting them touch before transferring them to baggies.  Since it was 10:30 by the time they were ready, Erin and I enjoyed them nearly alone, but for lunch the next day (today, Saturday) I used the frozen ones and made a mushroom cream sauce.
For the sauce I sauteed one full shallot and two cloves garlic in butter and then added my mushrooms.  The mushrooms I used were of 4 strange varieties that I have no idea what they are.  I bought them for a ridiculous price at Whole Foods.  When I say ridiculous I mean expensive.  I let the 'shrooms cook on medium heat until tender, cranked the heat and added some white wine and lemon juice.  The lemon juice was a departure from the recipe I was following and a bad decision.  The wine and lemon together was too much acidity and the mushrooms really soaked up the acid and were too tart.  The wine alone may have been too acidic on its own, who knows, but the lemon definitely didn't help.  After the wine reduced by two thirds on medium high heat I turned down the burner and added some cream.  I spooned some of the mushrooms and sauce over the ravioli and topped it with some scallions and some more Pecorino Romano.  Bella!
Next time I make a mushroom cream sauce I'll opt for cheaper mushrooms and follow the recipe using no citrus and perhaps less wine, or maybe just one with less acidity.  The important part was the ravioli however and it was awesome as expected.