Vegan Artichoke Herb Tofu Ricotta Ravioli (Millet Potato Sesame Seed Ciabatta And Black Garlic Surprise!)

I'm being a realist here. I don't expect many folks to jump up and make this meal. Not everyone has three hours to prep for a meal. But for the record, let me say--this meal was divine. Really divine. (I could have offered you a better picture--I know the white on white doesn't offer much, but it WAS really late when we ate, and I wanted an outside shot!) This was a restaurant quality, savor-every-bite sort of meal. Making your own pasta dough transcends any kitchen experience one can have--plus uses up nearly every inch of counter space available, and as an added bonus, uses nearly every kitchen appliance, too. (I didn't use the toaster or hand blender.) I made a saffron, garlic and shallot cashew cream sauce to accompany this wonderful dish inspired by chef Tal Ronnen and his cookbook: The Conscious Cook. Uber creaminess of the cashews compliments of the Vitamix blender, of course! How to make cashew cream? Easy. Boil 2 cups cashews for about five minutes. Drain. Place in Vitamixer and cover with cold water. Blend until smooth! To flavor sauce, saute any onion, garlic or herb you'd like, then add a bit of cooking wine, allow to reduce, add your cashew cream--make it your own! So easy and simply amazing!

This is the stuffing--or what was left of the stuffing. Very, very simple and could suffice as a sauce for tossing with almost any pasta rather than just used as a stuffed pasta filling. 

1 can artichokes drained, chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

1 small shallot minced

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/3 cup white cooking wine

1 cup cashew cream

Heat a couple swirls of olive oil in a saute pan. Add artichokes, garlic, shallots and seasonings. Cook for about five minutes over medium heat. Add cooking wine. Allow to reduce for ten minutes. Then add cashew cream. Easy! Delish, too!

 I adapted Tal Ronnen's "Artichoke Ricotta Tortellini with Saffron Cream Sauce" recipe in The Conscious Cook and gave it my own spin, not least of which was using ravioli instead. It is quite amazing in its simplicity, but quite time consuming as well. I longed for a sous chef yesterday.

I like photos of freshly rolled pasta. (Some elbow grease and hard work went into these.) I used "oo" flour in my dough that I bought at an Italian grocery store here in St. Louis. I adapted Chef Tal's recipe for homemade vegan pasta dough this way: He calls for red palm oil to impart the egg yolk color. I opted for a pinch of tumeric. In place of the red palm oil amount, I added another tablespoon of olive oil. The Vancouver Sun ran a piece that included his recipe for the dough. You can use my changes and trust that the dough will still be amazing in both its color and texture. In my opinion, the "oo" flour however, makes a huge difference vs. using semolina.

Millet Potato Sesame Seed Ciabatta Loaf--in the bread machine. (Again with the bread, Kelly! I know, I know.) This bread was a happy accident as I made a change to the recipe from--what else, only one of my favorite cookbooks ever--The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. She called for potato flakes and since I never have any of those hanging around, I used a real russet potato instead. After a bit of an OMG moment when I saw the dough in the machine, things calmed down a bit when I started grabbing handfuls of bread flour and adding it in. Instead of telling you "handfuls of flour"--my recipe adaptation is below. 

This mysterious little package of wonder: black garlic.

As I already stated, I know everyone out there doesn't have three hours to spend in the kitchen. I barely got this meal together myself because of all of the steps involved in prepping and planning. If I were a better planner, perhaps I would have had the bread baked the day before. But that's not how I roll. I am much more of a "I'm-in-the-mood-for-this-NOW" sort of cook. I've said this before, it would be very hard for me to be a chef and have to stick to the menu all the time and not just wing it. It might leave me cranky.

I went for my morning five mile run, then did some yoga on a dvd. Felt relaxed. Felt rejuvinated. Then lost it all when I found myself in my garden doing battle with some evil beetles who got a nice shower after I witnessed them destroying my zucchini sprouts! I was not happy at all. Then I ended up planting like five more seeds to compensate for the matter. Even after my yoga and all this breath-in and breath-out stuff, I still had some serious frustration over my garden bug issues. Such is life in the organic green fields! 

Then, I had to meet a friend who insisted we connect as she had something special to give me. I love presents, so I could not resist! She pulled out a paper bag and said, Here this is for you! I opened this up to find two bulbs of what looked like a really bad turned couple heads of garlic. She said, It's black garlic. I was like, What? She then proceeded to share with me that this was purported to be a wonder-food of sorts. After it goes through this super ferment period of about a month, it is then FULL of really high-potent antioxidant properties. (I could not find an FDA publication affirming such claims)--but the news out there is that it has been a part of ancient times before being discovered and used here in these parts. I had twenty questions of course--especially after I took a quick whif of the gift and it smelled heavenly. (I always smell food stuff first.) I love garlic in all of its forms. Raw or cooked. My friend not so much. She says the bitterness of garlic bothers her. However, she swears by the black garlic and insisted I just had to try it. For starters, I did a little research. Here is a link to an article that appeared in the Washington Post last year that can enlighten you about all things black garlic--including information regarding where to purchase. When I use it, I will post here about my own conclusions. So far in the "smells amazing catagory"--it gets five stars!

Millet Potato Sesame Seed Ciabatta Bread

1 russet potato cooked in microwave

1/2 cup whole millet

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 cup hot water

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 teaspoon Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 1/4 cups bread flour (this is my adjusted amount owing to my use of a real potato vs. flakes)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

First, bake your potato. Scoop out flesh, then mix with 1 cup of warm water in a blender. Set aside. Next, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Next, take the millet, sesame seeds and 1 cup of whole wheat flour and give it a go in a blender and pulse it a few times. You don't want a paste! Just pulse it! In a large bowl add the rest of the bread flour, spices, brown sugar and salt. Whisk well to combine. Add the millet and sesame mixture to this, whisk well again. (This is your dry ingredient mixture.) In another bowl, mix the egg replacer, olive oil, 1 1/2 cups water and potato mixture together. (This is your wet ingredient mixture.) Add ingredients into bread machine in order specified. Add the bread machine yeast last. (My machine says to add wet, then dry, then yeast last.) Set on "dough" program. If your dough seems a bit "wet" add a tablespoon of bread flour at a time. I just used my best guess to adjust the flour amount--stopping when I could see the dough clearing the sides of the machine. Either way, the end result should be a fairly "wet" dough. I turned the dough out after the beep, onto a well-floured surface and rolled it into a long tube about 3 inches wide. I then cut it into nine equal pieces. Then, flatten each piece into an oval, then roll up from the "long" side of the oval and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Lightly press down each little loaf with the palm of your hand. Spray with cooking oil. Cover lightly with plastic wrap for 45 minutes. About 25 minutes before the time is up, preheat your oven to 375. After dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap!--and bake for about 18 minutes or until there is a slight golden tone on the tops of the loaves. Serve warm! Yum!