Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Suite Pea Bundles

Inspiration is often born from necessity.

Ricotta cheese is luscious, but it does not keep for long. After Friday's Spinach Noodles, I had an open container half full in my fridge. I hate waste but I usually have to throw some away :-(
I hate doing that, so I pushed myself to come up with a new recipe to utilize it.
It occurred to me to try something similar to the spinach puree with another vegetable. I always have petite peas in the freezer, and next to them I found some stashed pasta wrappers (freeze them to stay fresh if you don't plan to use them right away). In the pantry, I found one shallot that needed to be used.

And Suite Pea Bundles are born. I'm very happy with this filling; it gives the bundles a pretty green color.


I made more filling than was needed but I fully intend to use the rest. I'm thinking of a layered dish later this week, with fire-roasted tomatoes and spaghetti squash.

Suite Pea Bundles

10 ounces frozen peas
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2/3 cup part-skim ricotta
1 package round pasta wrappers

Boil a small pot of water and add a pinch of salt. Add frozen peas and cook for 1 minute. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking and cool them down. Drain thoroughly and pour into a food processor. Add the salt, parmesan and ricotta cheeses. Puree to a chunky consistency, scraping down the bowl midway through.


Open the package of wrappers, and place a damp towel on top. Place 4 wrappers in front of you and fill them with a teaspoon of filling. Pinch edges together tightly to seal, squeezing out excess air. Place on a baking sheet and repeat (4 wrappers at a time) until all wrappers are gone.

If using later, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 1 hour before transferring the bundles to a freezer bag.

To serve right away, bring a pot of water to a boil and salt. Add the bundles and cook for 3-5 minutes. The bundles are done when they float to the top.

Serving Suggestions:

~ a dust with parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil
~ a garnish with a drained can of fire-roasted tomatoes
~ serve in a soup of chicken broth, cannellini beans and vegetables
~ prepare with a bamboo steamer and serve as an appetizer

~:~

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

These look fabulous! What a great idea. I really can't wait to make both these and the spinach pasta (which I'm making tonight and topping with grilled chicken). I have some ricotta in the fridge just dying to be used in some healthy, simple, but I'm sure delicious recipes!

Thank you!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Such cute little bundles!

Janet said...

Yum! That reminds me of this recipe: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/plump-pea-dumplings-recipe.html - pretty similar, with the addition of lemon zest (which really makes it!), and I actually make it with fava beans instead of peas, and use it as a dip/spread. Today I brought it to spread on my turkey sandwich!

Sarah said...

Oh, the lemon zest addition sounds intriguing, thanks Janet! I might have to give that a try in batch #2.

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I like the idea of the tomatoes too.

Erica said...

mmmmm sounds yummy! I have been dreaming up new combos for the "purses". I need to buy some more wrappers and give my ideas a try!

Sharon said...

I had to click over from your other post b/c these looked too delicious. You're my hero! I'm making a ricotta dish later in the week and I usually let the leftover ricotta go to waste.