For Bill Mac

[ralphthehalibut]

So this post isn't entirely spearfishing related, but I think Bill might appreciate it as he just posted a pretty great lobster recipe, likes taking the time to make his own home made Italian food (he's mentioned making his own pizza crusts in the past), and I've offered to give him some chanterelles next time I go on a mushroom run....

So, as a result of the bug from this dive http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=137096
and spending the weekend up north (which is why I couldn't meet for a dive with you Kirby.. sorry) gathering some mushrooms, I made a dish I thought I'd share because it is, to be blunt, ****ing awesome.

Lobster and Chanterelle Ravioli ....

What you need: (all this varies by how much you are making)

For the filling:
Lobster - the tail meat from 3 or 4 average lobster or 1 big one (5+#)
Chanterelles - maybe 3 pounds
Parsley (flat leaf)
Ricotta
Garlic
Butter (mmmmmm Butter)
italian spices to taste (rosemary, oregano, basil, etc)
black pepper and salt to taste

for the pasta:
eggs
unbleached four or semolina flour (I prefer unbleached)
salt

For the sauce(s):
Sauce 1: Creamy gouda and sundried tomato
1/2 cup sundrid tomatoes, chopped fine
2 roma tomatoes chopped into 1/4 - 1/2" cubes
1/2 c butter
1/2 c milk
1/2 c flour
8 oz smoked gouda, grated

Sauce 2: Parmesean, walnut, and sage sauce
1/2 c butter
parmesean - shaved or shredded
chopped walnuts
5 sage leaves, chopped

To prepare the filling: Pull the meat (uncooked) out of the lobster tail. Chop it finely, add a couple cloves of chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste and lightly saute it in butter until it is cooked through (should only take a few seconds in a hot pan. Once it is cooked, set aside and allow to cool.

Clean the chanterelles and chop them finely as well. Dry saute the 'relles until they give up their water and add a tiny bit of butter or EVOO and continue to cook until they are lightly browned. Set aside and allow to cool.

Once the mushrooms and lobster are cool, mix with the ricotta, some chopped parsely, chopped basil, italian herbs etc to your personal taste and set aside. (pic 1) (note: This filling can keep overnight if you want to take a couple days to make the dish)

To make the pasta: Depending on how much you want to make you can tailor this recipe:

I use a ratio of 1 cup flour: 1 egg: 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a little water to form a thick dough... Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, then form a ball and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes...

Either use a pasta rolling machine or a rolling pin on parchment paper to roll the pasta into a thin sheet, (pic 2)

Scoop small spoonfuls of the filling mix onto 1/2 of the pasta sheet, spacing the filling clumps about 1 inch apart (pic 3)

Fold the sheet over (pic 4)

Using a pizza cutter, knife, or one of those fancy zig zag cutters, cut around the pockets of filling (pic 5), then trip to the shape you want your raviolis

Crimp the edges with a fork (pic 6) and place the individual raviolis on a sheet of parchment paper (pic 7). DO NOT STACK THEM as they will stick together.

Boil the raviolis for 8-15 minutes until done and to specific taste (al dente vs overcooked. Cooking time depends on how thin the pasta is, size, etc.

While the water is coming to a boil/raviolis are cooking, make the sauce. I tried a couple different ones, both were amazing.

Sauce 1:
Melt butter and keep over high heat until it browns, add flour and milk, keep over heat and continue to stir until it thickens. Once it begins to thicken, stir in sundried tomatoes and gouda, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over ravioli and sprinkle with fresh chopped roma tomatoes

Sauce 2:
Melt butter, keep over high heat until it browns, stirring constantly, reduce heat, add in chopped sage and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Once you pour the sauce over the ravioli, sprinkle with fresh parmesan and chopped walnuts.

Once the raviolis are cooked, drain water, plate, drizzle with sauce and enjoy. The dish is super rich, so a dry white wine works well with it, as does a solid IPA. (pic 8) Hell, red works well too - I had a nice grenache with leftovers last night and it was damn good too.

There is tons of room to experiment with this dish, so do so. It's a lot of work, but well worth it.

[Spearforfun]

Holy crap Dave! That is awesome!

[sagen]

I've been doing it all wrong...........I need to take my shirt off......got it......haha my wife has been talking about making something like that...can't wait to try it...

[ralphthehalibut]

haha.. I didn't want to get flour all over my shirt. Plus I figured little mark would like the pic too

[Jared44]

Originally Posted by sagen

I've been doing it all wrong...........I need to take my shirt off......got it........

Thanks for taking the time to write that all up. Sounds good.

[Chainsaw]

Awesome looking dish Dave, and the pic with your shirt off? Was that just a bonus for us lesser chefs?
I am hungry.

[Ethan kills]

I'm allergic to lobsters and chantrelles

[Mr Paul]

Who are you and what have you done with Dave? I am absolutely gonna try this, thanks for posting!

[ACEVEDO]

Great thread ..Thanks Dave

[Ascendv6]

Looks great! How do you get everything to stick to the ceiling in pic #3? Is that an essential part of the recipe?

[Bill McIntyre]

Looks great Dave, but way too much work for me.

Besides, I'd need some time to lose enough weight to take my shirt off.

[C monster]

Originally Posted by Bill McIntyre

Besides, I'd need some time to lose enough weight to take my shirt off.

Yeah-- Right. I hope I look half as good when I'm your age, Bill.

SC

[Chris Lupin]

Can't wait to try this. I will probably end up using a premade dough (I think wonton wrappers would work well) if you wanted to shorten the prep time.

I used similar ingredients to make a lasagna last year that was also excellent. Something about pasta, lobster, and chanterelles makes my mouth water every time. Thanks for posting Dave.

[mikeme]

That looks great