Crab ravioli

I was surprised at how delicious these are. We came up with the recipe out of thin air, because our darling goddaughter, when discussing Christmas dinner possibilities, said, "Ravioli," and "I like crab--how about crab ravioli?"

Out of the mouths of babes. Or, nine-year-olds:

Crab ravioli (ravioli di granchio, would that be?)

Grind together in a meat grinder:
1/2 lb. onion
1/2 lb. crab (or, "crab"--we use imitation crab because Paul can't eat real crab)

Stir in:
1 egg
1/2 c. breadcrumbs (plain--not with any spices or herbs)
1 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 c. ricotta cheese
dash of white pepper

6 sheets of fresh pasta (our pasta shop, Phoenix, has sheets that are about 10" x 13")

I got our ravioli mold from Sur La Table to assemble them, and fill each rav with 1-2 tsp. of filling--about 1-1/2 tsp. of filling is perfect. (Be sure to wet the areas of the pasta that will be the edges of the ravs for a good seal!) This recipe made about 70 ravs, enough for a main course for 3 people.

We put them on wax-paper lined cookie sheets to freeze them, and when they were frozen hard, put them into containers, and ate them a week later. We did this test, because when making them for a large group, we wanted to know if they'd do well made ahead of time and frozen--they did!

When cooking them frozen, we boiled them for ca. 10 min.--it may take 11 min., depending on how hot your water is, and how long it takes to return to a rapid boil after adding the frozen ravs. (Of course, if cooking them fresh, it will just take a few minutes.) To see if they're done, I always just take one out, blow on it a bit, and eat it to see of the pasta is cooked all the way.

We ate them with a plain tomato sauce (2 onions sauteed in about 1 tbsp. organic canola oil until lightly browned, 2 large cans organic diced tomatoes, then added 6 cloves chopped organic garlic, 2 fresh tomatoes 'cause we had them, 1 bunch fresh organic basil, 1 tsp. dried thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. white pepper). We added freshly grated parmesan on top (also from Phoenix) and a Cline Ancient Vines Carignane (although they'd be delicious with white--we just adore reds, and have a serious devotion to the always outstanding Cline wines).

We'll be making dozens of these for Christmas dinner! Can't wait!