Inside-Out Ravioli

Ravioli: (n) Small pasta envelopes containing meat, cheese or vegetables.

Inside-Out Ravioli: (n) Small pasta shapes containing a meat, cheese, or vegetable filling as a sauce.

With a hearty but smooth filling conveniently encased in a pocket of soft noodle with fun crimped edges just begging to be nibbled off, ravioli are a popular pasta favorite.  They can be simple and traditional with fillings like ricotta and spinach or Italian sausage, or they can be modern and extravagant, stuffed with creamy lobster or spicy pumpkin.  There really is no limit to what can be done with the ravioli.

I, for example, turned my ravioli inside-out.

That's Not Really Ravioli

Two things stand in my way of preparing a real ravioli for my daughter:

1. My inability to make homemade pasta.
2. Her inability to chew big things.

While technically the ravioli is the pocket, I think it's okay to think outside the box when preparing it for someone with only three teeth.  I took the liberty, then, to slightly redefine the ravioli to mean the comforting fillings I enjoy the most:  Creamy cheese, beef and spinach. Served with soft noodle shapes, it might not be an accurate representation of a ravioli as far as the textural experience goes, but the flavor was more than enough to make up for that inaccuracy.

Inside-Out Ravioli

Ingredients

Pasta Shapes

Ground Beef

Spinach

Whole Wheat Flour

Butter

Whole Milk

Provolone Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

A little bit o' spice

Technique

First, put a pot of water on to boil so you can prepare your pasta shapes.  How much pasta you prepare is up to you and your child's appetite.  Anything you have leftover can be refrigerated and used for a meal the next day.  Put your pasta in when the water is rolling, stirring often until it's done, then drain it and set it aside.

While your water is boiling, prepare your cheese sauce.  First, make a roux using equal amounts of butter and whole wheat flour (I used about half a tablespoon):  Melt the butter over medium-low heat, then add your flour slowly and vigorously whisk to incorporate.  Slowly whisk in the milk to the desired consistency; turn the heat up a little to help it thicken (I always keep it a little low when I actually add the milk to keep it from scalding).  Remember you can always add more milk to thin it out later.  Then, add your cheeses:  A few pinches of grated Parmesan and maybe an ounce or two of provolone.  Keep whisking slowly until all the cheese melts, and taste it frequently.  Add more provolone if you want it a little thicker or stronger in cheese flavor. Sprinkle with a little bit of spice - just a tiny bit of garlic powder and a pinch or two of pepper. Do NOT add salt.

As I said in a previous blog, when you're making creamy sauces with whole wheat flour, it will have brown flecks in it and it will taste a little nutty.  While this may seem unappealing to you, it's a great way to acclimate your baby to the taste and texture of whole wheat so they can acquire a preference for healthier whole grain options throughout life.

Set your cheese sauce to low heat to keep it warm, giving it a quick stir now and then to prevent burning and to keep that silly skin from forming on the top while you prepare your meat "filling."

If you're using frozen spinach, prepare it according to the package directions.  If you're using fresh, toss it into your pasta water for a few seconds until it gets soft and wilted and immediately take it out - how much you use depends on how much beef you use; try to use at least half the amount (for example, one ounce of spinach to two ounces of beef).  Brown about a meatball-sized portion of ground beef (if you need to add a little fat to keep it from sticking to your pan, I suggest a quick spray of canola oil Pam), then add the spinach and give it a quick mix.  Drain the beef, then dice the spinach and meat mixture to a texture that your baby can handle.

Spoon the pasta into a bowl, add your meat/spinach mix, and ladle on a healthy helping of sauce to moisten everything up.  Stir it all together and serve!  

Enjoy!

This was a big hit with my daughter, and surprisingly, my husband as well, who ventured to ask why I don't cook like this for us normally.  It was a good question, one that I contemplated as I poked at leftover noodles and cheese sauce.  Why don't I?

*I like to prepare creamier sauces for my daughter because she outright refuses to drink whole milk, something that is suggested at her age.  This way, I can sneak in the extra calories, calcium, protein and all the other goodness of milk without actually having to watch her choke down an ounce through exaggerated gags and squinted looks of disgust.  She's on her way to winning an Oscar with the performances she puts on when offered milk, but it's something we're working on.

Cheese Sauce Comfort

As a mother, I needed a little comfort today.  I turned on the news this morning to see that a high school not too far from my own city was bustling with police activity as reports of a school shooting came over the air.  I immediately scooped up my daughter, too young yet for even kindergarten, and held her close as I imagined the abject terror rippling through the crowd of students convened in the cafeteria as the first shot rang out.  I could only imagine how frantic parents must have felt as word got back to them, and how devastated the two families of the unfortunate students who have lost their lives must be.  Three others were injured, but the entire community will suffer for a long time to come.

Despite the unseasonable warmth hiding behind a light chilly breeze and the sun blazing boldly through my windows, it was a dark day in Ohio and across the nation as people suddenly were in fear for their own children, minds filling with worry as we're reminded yet again that the only place they spend more time during the day than home can never be completely safe.

It was a comfort food kind of day.

Carb Load


Imagine a comfortable white bed overrun with fluffy green pillows and covered in a toasty golden blanket.  That's how I see my favorite comfort food:  A baked potato covered in broccoli and cheese sauce.  The starchy goodness, the burst of fresh vegetable and creamy cheddar combine to create a little bit of heaven on earth and eating it is just as fulfilling as curling up in bed when I'm otherwise unable.

I wanted to share with my daughter one of my favorite all-time foods, so I decided to make her a baby version for lunch.  As I baked a couple of yellow fleshed potatoes and cooked up some broccoli and kale, I contemplated how I would add cheese to the mixture.  You can't simply add cheese:  It would leave a very dry potato along with chewy strings that would gradually harden as the dish cooled that a baby with only three teeth in front wouldn't be able to handle, and I certainly couldn't give her a commercial cheese sauce.  Not only because I didn't have any, but because that stuff is awful.

I never made a basic cheddar cheese sauce before, which surprised even me as I realized that. So I took to the internet for inspiration.

The Basics

When you're wandering through the grocery aisle, pick up a bottle or can of cheese sauce and read the ingredients:

• Artificial colors and flavorings
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Disodium phosphate
• Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
• Autolyzed yeast extract
• Added salts, sugars and thickeners

I don't know what some of this stuff really is, but I do know what it is not:  Necessary.  

As it turns out, making a cheese sauce is pretty simple.  I needed only four ingredients:  Butter, flour, milk and cheddar cheese.  No phosphates, no oils, no salt, no artificial colors.

For wee ones, choose a mild cheddar.  You can buy it pre-shredded, which I don't do simply because shredded cheeses are usually treated with natamycin, a mold inhibitor that I don't know enough about  to feel comfortable giving to my daughter.  You can also buy it by the block and either cut it into small cubes or shred it yourself, which is what I prefer.

In order to make the sauce healthier, I opted for whole wheat flour.  It's an acquired taste - let your child acquire it.  The sauce won't be what you may be used to:  It will have flecks of brown wheat throughout, and it will taste a little like a grilled cheese sandwich instead of just cheese.  Your child doesn't know to expect bright-yellow perfectly smooth sauce, and it's not a bad idea to keep it that way.

Making the Sauce

One of the easiest things in the world - make a roux, add milk to the desired consistency, add cheese to the desired flavor. 

1)  Melt one tablespoon of butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat, and add to it your whole wheat flour, stirring to combine well.

2)  Gradually whisk in whole milk (or whichever milk your pediatrician recommends for your child if he or she is on a special diet) until you reach a desired consistency.  You'll want it to be a little thick, but not too thick.  Remember, you can always add more milk later.

3)  Add your cheese, about an ounce or two.  Add it slowly, let it melt, taste it.  If it tastes more like flour than it does cheese, add more cheese.  Cooking really is that simple:  Look, and taste.  If it starts getting too thick, add some more milk.  I'd tell you the exact measurements I used, but like I said before, I don't use exact measurements.

There.  It really is that easy.

Baby Baked Potato with Greens and Cheese

To finish off the lunch, I mashed up the insides of the potatoes I had cooked, chopped the broccoli and kale and added that (use a lot of the greens; you want a healthy ratio of greens to potato in every bite!) and then put in enough cheese sauce to make the whole mess nice and smooth.  It tasted great:  Creamy potato, vibrant greens, comforting cheese with a little whole grain nuttiness.  We both loved it!