Mediterranean Chicken Ravioli

Chicken & noodles is the Improv Cooking Challenge theme that our hostess Lesa assigned for March. You know me -- never met a pasta I didn’t like. Well, until my gluten-free era, that is…I haven’t made pasta since this challenge over a year ago; so I figured it was time to try again. I made a few adjustments to my recipe to use Cup 4 Cup flour.

Lemon Basil Pasta

• 280 g. all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 37 g. garbanzo bean flour
• 1 T. xanthan gum
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 2 eggs + 1 yolk
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. chopped fresh basil
• 1 t. finely grated lemon zest
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c. cold water (or enough for dough consistency)

Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add remaining items and mix until dough forms a ball. Turn out from bowl & knead a few turns. Wrap in plastic to rest.

While I was making the pasta dough, I had my boneless/skinless chicken thighs marinating in drained juices from the filling ingredients. (For the marinade I simply added a little white wine and lemon juice to the liquids from the capers, olives & artichoke hearts.)

As the dough was resting, I grilled the thighs & then chopped them and added them to the other filling items. (Half the amount of this recipe filled the ravioli; the remaining we used as a chopped salad in pita pockets…)

Mediterranean Chicken

• 2 T. capers, drained
• 6 oz. kalamata olives, drained & chopped
• 6 oz. artichoke hearts marinated in oil, drained & chopped
• 1/3 c. onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 oz. fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled
• 4 cups grilled chicken, chopped

You could add some fresh-cracked black pepper to this mixture, but I liked the way it tasted (and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and…) without additional seasoning.

Now it was time to drag out the pasta maker. (I rolled the sheets pretty short to cut four rounds at a time, otherwise the pasta tended to dry out a little.)I think this dough handled much better than the recipe I used before.Again I used my trusty old 4” Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal^® to manufacture the raviolis. I covered them with plastic wrap and let them rest on a platter while I made the Alfredo sauce requested by my men.

Greek Yogurt Alfredo Sauce

• 1 T. olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 c. Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 T. arrowroot starch
• 8 oz. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Lightly heat the garlic and olive oil in a sauce pan. Stir in the yogurt. Mix the starch (could sub tapioca or corn starch) into the milk, then add that & the chicken broth to the heating mixture. When that begins to bubble & thicken, whisk in the cheese little by little until the sauce is smooth & of proper consistency.

Boil the ravioli until pasta is done (ours was about 10 minutes) Drain & serve with the delish Alfredo sauce.Yum!

 

…and here are some recipes created by my friends:

An InLinkz Link-up

Three-Cheese Spinach Ravioli *GF*

Pasta & cheese, cheese & pasta… no matter how you stir it up, it’s always one of my favorite meals. Well, was one of my favorite meals. Gluten free (rice, potato, bean…) noodles are not an equal substitution for good ol’ durum semolina to my palate.
When Kristen proclaimed September’s Challenge to be Pasta and Cheese; well, that was the motivation I needed to make some Melody-approved gluten-free pasta!
I researched many recipes, but I wanted one with spinach. The best one I found here. I made a few tiny adjustments, but it came out perfectly on the first try!*(I need to make a comment here for garbanzo bean flour haters: Yes, it does smell/taste very strong while you’re mixing it up – but I didn’t even get the slightest hint of that flavor after the ravioli were cooked. Try it! The high protein content makes it a wonderful addition to pasta dough.)*After I had mixed in enough cold water for the ingredients to start coming together, I turned it out & kneaded a few turns. While the dough was resting in the frig, it was time to make the filling.I chose provolone instead of mozzarella because that’s what our favorite Italian restaurant uses on top of all pizzas and in many of their dishes.I was planning on using the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid, but figured I needed it to be rolled wider to fit bunches of raviolis on at one time.WELL! My arms are soooooooo fatigued from rolling all that stiff dough! Next time I will use the machine! I found that if I rolled too much at a time, it just dried out.My 19-year-old Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal^® was the perfect tool. After an egg wash & dollop of cheese, the tops fit on and sealed so nicely.I slipped them over to a waiting platterthen covered each stack in plastic wrap to wait until closer to the dinner hour. (Which was later than usual because of marching band practice/drama parent meeting…)Now the ravioli are ready for a salty bath boil. We let a few of them jump right in. (I know they look a little crowded, but that’s 12 quarts of water in my pasta pot…)We took this one out after 6 minutes, and decided the rest could cook a few more. (D.E.L.I.S.H. by the way!)When you cook for my crew, pasta alone is not enough; no matter how cheesy it might be. Good thing Sprouts had their Parmesan Chicken Sausage on sale.I picked up about a pound of “spicy” and almost that much “regular” as well as some red peppers & onions.After browning the sausage & veggies, we slid the cooked ravioli in to get all cozy & saucy with it all.Not a bite disappointed anyone!All but three lonely little raviolis were consumed for dinner. (And those were finished by my son for lunch today – still yummy!)
Why don’t you check out these links for more pasta & cheese goodness: