Salmon-Cream Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

We had a little grilled salmon leftover that wasn't enough for a serving so I thought I would try out a recipe in the booklet that came with my new ravioli attachment. The recipe is to die for, but the attachment part not so much. In the end I cleaned the attachment and returned it. Main reason is it's messy and didn't fill the ravioli with enough stuffing so it ended up being mainly dough. It's much quicker rolling our the sheets of pasta and cutting the individual raviolis. You could even use won ton wrappers if you don't want to make your own pasta. Since the hubby seasoned the salmon and smoked it I adjusted the seasonings listed and just mixed in plain cream cheese and dried dill.

On a side note I want to tell my lovely husband Happy Anniversary!!! I can't believe we have been married 7 years already as of Monday! I wanted to post something on Monday, but I didn't have a picture of our cake then since the shop was closed on Monday's. My hubby came home with flowers and a card that made me sniffle.

On our wedding day we swapped bites of the wedding cake, but somehow no one saved us a piece of the grooms cake so we never got to try it. That sparked our tradition of getting a small scale grooms cake for each anniversary. I admit I can't wait to get this cake every year. It comes from Julies Cakes and the icing is to die for. The cake is a chocolate cake with cherry filling and chocolate butter cream icing.

Don't forget today is the last day to enter for the $30 gift card I'll announce a winner on Friday. Click HERE for details.

Salmon-Cream Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
(Adapted from Kitchenaid)

Ravioli
1 recipe basic egg pasta
1 fillet (12 ounces) salmon
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 container (8 ounces) cream cheese with chives and onion
2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh dill or 1/2 teaspoon dried

Prepare pasta dough; let rest.

Drizzle salmon with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. On greased baking sheet, roast salmon at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until center flakes easily with fork. Cool; remove and discard skin and dark meat. In medium bowl, flake salmon; combine with cream cheese and dill.

Refrigerate until ready to fill ravioli. Follow directions for preparing pasta sheets, using Ravioli Maker and cooking ravioli.


Sauce
1 large head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Peel loose, paper-like skin from outside of garlic. Cut 1/2-inch slice from top of garlic to expose cloves. Place cut side up on 12-inch square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with oil; wrap securely in foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until knife point in center meets no resistance; cool. In small boil, squeeze garlic out of cloves; mash with fork. I decided to try something I saw on Martha Stewart which was roasting the garlic in a skillet. It really cut down on the time, but my house needed a lot of airing out because it filled with the smell of garlic.

In heavy 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, heat butter until hot. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute.

Gradually stir in cream, mashed garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling; boil and stir 1 minute, or until thickened. Serve hot over cooked ravioli.

Smoked Salmon and Grilling

This past weekend we fired up the BBQ pit and slapped on a brisket, ribs and salmon. My dear husband isn't into creating recipes so I try to sneak a peak when he's seasoning things. I'm sorry to say I don't have an exact recipe, but it's an even sprinkling of olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, pepper and a couple sprigs of of rosemary on top. Then it's on the pit to smoke till there's a nice crust and the fish is flaky. I've got a great recipe on Wednesday using the leftovers so be sure to check that out.

Creamy Shrimp and Spinach Pasta

I don't know why but it seems like all these shrimp pastas are coming out to be about the same thing. They all have shrimp, pasta, spinach and mushrooms. I just realized that! I'm gonna have to use some inspiration from other dishes and come up with my own combo. The recipe tasted good, but it needs some seafood seasoning and a little spice to our liking.

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Creamy Shrimp and Spinach Pasta
Adapted by Southern Livings 40 Years of Our Best Recipes)

12 ounces uncooked ziti pasta
1 (6 ounce) fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon butter
1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh baby portobello mushrooms
1 large white onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1 cup low-sodium fat free chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine*
6 ounce 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon, plus 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound peeled cooked medium shrimp, tails removed (about 41 to 50 shrimp)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*Substitute 1/4 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth, if desired.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omit salt and fat. Drain; return to pan. Stir in spinach; toss until spinach wilts. Set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally; 8 minutes or until browned.

Add onion, saute over medium heat 10 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; saute 1 minute.

Stir in chicken broth and white wine. Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring often, 8 minutes or mixture thickens slightly. Reduce heat to medium.

Stir in cream cheese and next 3 ingredients until smooth.

Add shrimp, and cook until thoroughly heated.

Pour shrimp mixture over pasta mixture; toss to combine.

Sprinkle evenly with grated Parmesan cheese, and serve immediately.

Crab and Pasta Primavera

We love seafood in our house and since I had been craving some crab meat I thought I would look for a recipe that incorporated some veggies in as well and luckily I found a pasta recipe so I could use my home-made pasta with it. This recipe came out really light and refreshing and didn't have a heavy cream sauce which was nice. The leftovers went just as fast and got gobbled up in no time.

A quick shout out welcoming all of my new followers, I appreciate all the support!!

Don't forget to vote for my recipe click HERE for details.

Click HERE to enter and win a $30 gift card to Kroger.

Crab and Pasta Primavera
(Adapted from an old cookbook which I copied a long time ago so I don't have the source)

1 package (6 ounces) crab meat
4 ounces thin spaghetti
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen tiny peas
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions just until tender; drain, return to saucepan, cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile , in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter or margarine in oil. Add zucchini; saute for 1 minute or until zucchini is golden.

Add mushrooms and peas; saute for 30 seconds or until peas are thawed. Transfer about 1/2 cup vegetables to a small bowl; cover and keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter in skillet with remaining vegetables. Stir in cream, cheese, basil and pepper. When hot, transfer to a medium bowl; cover and set aside.

Separate crab meat into pieces. In a skillet over medium heat, simmer crab meat in a small amount of water just until heated through; drain.

Add crab meat and creamed vegetable mixture to pasta; toss gently to mix. Transfer to a large serving plate and top with reserved vegetables. Serve with Parmesan cheese.