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.

Hits & Misses - Feb. 26

Breakfast - HIT!

With the introduction of yogurt into her diet a few months ago, Evelyn has demanded it for breakfast ever since, shunning other options I have presented to her.  Because she eats essentially the same breakfast every day, breakfast is always a smashing success:

Ingredients
Two or three big spoonfuls of whole milk plain yogurt
A generous portion of baby oatmeal cereal
A tablespoon or two of fruit puree (today, it was prunes)
Half a banana mashed up

Technique
Just mush it all together.  It's pretty simple.

If you get the ratio of Oatmeal to Everything Else just right, it creates an almost fluffy mousse that my daughter can't resist, and I'll fully admit to giving her too much sometimes simply so I can eat her leftovers.

Lunch - HIT!

Today for lunch, I prepared Green Pea Pesto sans the basil as I didn't have any in my fridge. (You can find the recipe at the bottom of this blog post.)  I mixed it in with leftover plain brown rice I had in my fridge.  It left my daughter with a bit of garlic breath, but fully satisfied.  Usually at lunch, she doesn't eat a whole lot, but she left nothing in the bowl but two tiny bites that she just couldn't stuff in.

Dinner - HIT!

Whole wheat pasta, chunks of fresh tomato, bits of green pepper and onion and chewy beef all come together with a little tomato sauce to create what I call Baby Marzetti.  Don't forget the sprinkle of Parmesan at the end!

Not shown:  Ground beef, tomato sauce

Ingredients

Whole wheat spaghetti, broken in half

Small bit of diced green pepper*

Even smaller bit of diced onion*

One fresh tomato

Meatball-sized serving of ground beef

Commercial or homemade tomato sauce

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Technique

1)  First, you'll want to boil water and get your noodles going.  Whole wheat pasta takes a little longer to get tender.  Don't worry about the size, you'll dice it later.

2)  While your noodles are cooking, brown the beef in a small bit of olive oil (if you get anything with a higher fat content than 80/20 ground beef, you probably won't need oil - or if you have a really good non-stick skillet, which I completely lack).  When it's almost done, throw your peppers and onions in until they are soft. Drain the meat mixture and set aside.

3)  Wash your tomato, cut the stem end off, and then throw it in the water with your pasta for about 30 seconds to a minute to loosen the skin so you can peel it.  When you take it out and peel it, cut out the core (basically, get rid of the seeds).  

Skinned, seeded tomato and browned beef with peppers and onion.

4)  Now is the time to dice, rice or food process.  I prefer dicing with a nice sharp blade.  Start with the beef and peppers/onion mix and dice it finely into tiny pieces.  Then, start dicing the tomato.  The chunks can be a little bigger for the tomato, because it will soften up when you warm it with the sauce and will add a more stimulating texture to the finished meal.

5)  Put the tomato and beef mixture back into the skillet (wipe the oil and fat out first, though!) and add a small amount of commercial low-sodium tomato sauce or homemade tomato sauce just to moisten the mixture and tie it all together.  You shouldn't need too much, but use your judgment.  Warm it over medium heat for a few minutes to cook the tomato, and then set to low heat while you're taking care of your noodles.

6)  Drain your noodles, then dice them.  It can be hard to find whole-wheat pasta in small baby-friendly shapes and sizes, and even then, you seem to pay a little more for that fun star shape than you do for the old spaghetti standby.  Look how easy it is to turn a mess of spaghetti into tiny pieces with a quick turn of a knife:

Before:  Basic spaghetti.  After:  Adorable tiny bites.

7)  Put your noodle bites in a bowl, spoon your beefy sauce over the top and stir it around to coat every noodle.  Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese, and, after checking the temp to make sure nothing's still boiling hot, serve up!

Enjoy!

Evelyn eagerly ate this dinner, and giggled after the first few bites she was so excited.  When I wasn't shoveling it in her little mouth fast enough, she was pointing at the bowl and grunting.  With it's comforting whole-wheat noodles and fresh tomato and pepper taste, I can safely call this dinner a hit.

*These ingredients can be purchased pre-diced in the freezer section.  Since you only use such a small amount when preparing any baby food, they make a great addition to your freezer.  You can pop open the bag, take out what little amount you need, and cook with them immediately.