Crab-Stuffed Ravioli in a Spicy Pepper-Tomato Sauce + 2017 Comanche Cellars Zinfandel #FishFridayFoodies

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' March 2021 event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, to share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. 

And this month, Wendy is hosting. She asked the bloggers to share fish/seafood recipes that pair well with red wine. She wrote, "You don't have to do a pairing but are welcome to if you would like. Look for recipes with Asian flavors, in red sauces that complement red wine, that use a fattier, denser fish, grilled or roasted cooking methods. The possibilities are endless. Who says that you must drink white wine with fish or seafood?"

Here's the March 2021 line-up from the #FishFridayFoodies. I cannot wait to try these recipes...

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla is serving up Crab-Stuffed Ravioli in a Spiced Pepper Sauce + 2017 Comanche Cellars Zinfandel
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is Exploring Malbec outside of France Paired with Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon.
• Making Miracles brings us Fish with Red Wine Sauce.
• Karen's Kitchen Stories shares Shrimp in Tomato and Chile Sauce.
• Food Lust People Love has a Spicy Cod and Merguez Tray Bake.
• Sneha's Recipe made Surf and Turf With Shrimp and Sausage Skewers.

Crab-Stuffed Ravioli in a Spicy Pepper-Tomato Sauce

I have been making a lot of handmade pasta recently. A lot. 

I made a basic pasta dough, a spinach pasta dough, and a red pepper pasta dough. They just looked like Spring to me. 

And this past weekend I decided to try my hand at laminating pasta dough without a pasta machine. Just me and my trusty rolling pin. 

Ingredients serves 4

Filling

• 1 cup chopped garden greens (I used rainbow chard from my CSA box)
• 1 Tablespoon chopped Spring onions
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup crab meat
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs (I used oregano and parsley from a friend's garden)
• 1 egg 
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper

Ravioli

• three kinds of pasta dough (see this post), for this batch I used spinach dough, red pepper dough, and basic dough
• Also needed: flour, rolling pin, water in a spray bottle, ravioli cutter

Serving

• sauce (I used the brand-new SPICY chunky tomato & pepper pasta sauce from Trader Joe's and it was aptly named)
• herbs
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil for drizzling
• parmesan cheese for grating

Procedure

Make three kinds of pasta dough (see this post). Then laminate them together (see this post). The only thing I did different was to use a rolling pin and not my pasta machine.

Filling

Stir all of the ingredients together until well-combined. Set aside.

Ravioli

Slice the laminated dough into 1/2" slabs. Place that on a clean, floured surface and roll the dough out as thin as you can with a rolling pin.

Place a mound of filling on the dough, in the top third, and spray the entire surface with water.

Fold the rolled dough over the top of the filling.

Press out any extra air to create a seal around the filling.

Using a ravioli cutter, cut around the filling carefully. Place the finished ravioli on a floured parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all of the dough or all of the filling has been used.

To cook these: drop them into salted, boiling water. Cook for four to five minutes. Gently remove them from the pot. As I mentioned, for this batch, I used a jarred sauce and just served it with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and some fresh herbs as a garnish.

2017 Comanche Cellars Zinfandel

Though most people think of pairing seafood with white wine or a rosé, Wendy's prompt was a wonderful reminder to just pair with what you like to drink. And I had a bottle of wine that was a gift from a friend: 2017 Comanche Cellars Zinfandel.

Comanche Cellars is a Monterey County-based winery with a tasting room in downtown Monterey. Once the world opens back up, I plan to visit the tasting room.

In any case, the winery is named after Comanche, owner Michael Simons’ horse from when he was ten years old. This trusty companion was an important part of Simon's childhood and, in his honor, Comanche’s name and shoes are on every bottle of his wine.

The friend who gave me the wine responded with more information when I shared the photo. "So glad you liked it! Mesa Del Sol is a very special place out near Arroyo Seco. It is female-owned. Ann Hougham is a friend I met through another female friend. She had been making red wines there for many years. When I saw the label at my wine club I thought I better buy a few bottles to give to friends." And I am so grateful that she did. This wine was fruit-forward with just enough spice and savory to keep it interesting.

That's a wrap on our March 2021 Fish Friday Foodies event. We'll be back next month as Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories leads the discussion of fish and seafood dishes from Africa. Color me intrigued. I can't wait to do some research and recipe testing!