{"id":320,"date":"2011-10-25T10:06:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T10:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suppersfromscratch.wordpress.com\/?p=320"},"modified":"2013-04-21T20:51:08","modified_gmt":"2013-04-21T20:51:08","slug":"common-sense-a-recipe-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/?p=320","title":{"rendered":"Common sense: a recipe for success"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a story about shoving common sense to one side, and blindly following recipes.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said before, pasta was a big part of my staple diet before the start of this year, and filled pasta (predominantly tortellini) was the ultimate in lazy. You didn\u2019t even have to make a sauce: just boil some water, drop the parcels in for a few minutes and chuck some grated cheese on top.<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n I was expecting the From Scratch version to be far more complex but in fact it\u2019s still fairly easy. Not quite the same convenience as a super market but I wouldn\u2019t call it a complex dish.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

As I was craving some autumnal vegetable I decided on butternut squash ravioli. I\u2019m still not quite sure what the difference is between ravioli or tortellini other than the shape so they may have been tortellini, but in the interest of diversity let\u2019s give ravioli a chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

My original plan was to follow a recipe for this, but as I got further and further stuck in my orangey butternut squash mess, (imagine it was the 90s and I had just been gunged on Nickelodeon and you\u2019re getting close to what I looked like) I realised that sometimes following the recipe just isn\u2019t the right way to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like following the Sat Nav and missing your junction. Even if you\u2019re driving home, if TomTom tells you in her sensual voice to \u201cdrive off the nearest mountain\u201d, you do it despite your better judgement. Similarly, when you focus completely on a recipe you stop using your common sense and culinary experience and jump off the proverbial food cliff lemming style. I used to love playing lemmings but I don\u2019t really want to be one!\u00a0 Anyway I digress, let\u2019s get back to the lovely butternut squash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Butternut Squash Ravioli<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For the filling<\/span><\/p>\n

1 butternut squash<\/span><\/p>\n

Knob of butter<\/span><\/p>\n

1 tsp of sugar<\/span><\/p>\n

Salt and pepper to season<\/span><\/p>\n

For pasta \u2013 Check out the recipe here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

+ 1 egg to seal<\/span><\/p>\n

Method<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don\u2019t completely follow this recipe to the detriment of your own pasta, use your own mind and creativity!<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Chop the Butternut squash into cubes<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Place a pan on the heat and melt a knob of butter in it<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Put the butternut squash into the pan and let it soften on a low heat for about 20 mins<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Whilst this is happening prep pasta and leave to cool in fridge covered in cling film<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Once softened add salt, pepper and sugar to taste- I like mine sweet so you may want to use less sugar (again, use your head\/taste buds!)<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Next blitz this mixture in a food processor until you have a smooth paste<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Now roll out your pasta and lay it on a floured side.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. This is where I went wrong so please use your judgement \u2013 my pasta was too thin for the amount of squash I used and it got very messy. So teaspoon your mixture out on the pasta leaving enough room to be able to cut around each piece.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Egg wash around the edge of each bit of squash then lay another sheet of pasta over the top and press down, there should be enough room so you can cut out each pasta shape.<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Place them on a baking sheet and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30 mins<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Boil your water and pop the pasta in, they really don\u2019t take long to cook you will know they are done as they bobble up to the top<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. So there you have it: butternut squash ravioli.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Where I went wrong was not leaving enough space between each teaspoon of butternut squash, so when I tried to place the pasta on top and join them, the orangey goodness squeezes itself out of my lovely pasta parcels and all over me, the table and the other pieces of pasta – I felt like a child playing with very sticky, messy, but tasty play dough! Thus my words of warning: use your head, don\u2019t just assume that what I or anyone else says is right; there is no divine rightness in the kitchen!<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

    Despite this messy complication the pasta actually tasted delicious and didn\u2019t fall apart in the pan \u2013 an absolute miracle \u2013 apparently I was having a good day with the food gods. Either way it made for a delicious and fairly quick dinner. Next time though I\u2019ll have to juggle the recipe with my own noodle.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is a story about shoving common sense to one side, and blindly following recipes. As I\u2019ve said before, pasta was a big part of my staple diet before the start of this year, and filled pasta (predominantly tortellini) was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,138],"tags":[269,270],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1433,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions\/1433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}