Chicken and cheddar ravioli with bacon and tomato sauce

Monday night in our house is cooking night. The kids look forward to this and always tell me a couple of days before what they would like to cook. At the weekend they had decided they would like to make ravioli’s. From there we agreed that chicken and cheddar cheese would be nice as well as a very tasty bacon and tomato sauce.

This is the dish that the children cooked, I was merely a supervisor for the evening and this whole dish was put together by my children.

It really turned out to be a beautifully tasty plate of pasta and I am so proud that my kids really enjoy cooking so much.

Cooking with the kids is an invaluable tool when it comes to getting them to try new foods, eat more vegetables and give them a life skill that will hopefully keep them eating healthy, tasty and nutritious food throughout their lives.

Do try this recipe it is well worth the effort.

Jasmine rolling pasta sheets

Jasmine filling the pasta dough

Jake's turn rolling the dough

Pushing the air and shaping the ravioli's

Cutting the ravioli's

Ravioli's prepared

Cooking the ravioli's

Jake adding the ravioli's to the boiling water

Ingredients;

For the filling;

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

3 chicken breasts, if possible minced by hand as this gives a nicer texture

100g grated cheddar

Salt and pepper to taste

1tblsp Chopped parsley

½ quantity pasta dough, (recipe in this blog under base recipes)

1 egg beaten

For the sauce;

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

4 slices of bacon, diced

150ml white (optional)

1tblsp tomato paste

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley to serve

Shaved parmesan to serve

Method;

For the filling;

Place a pan over medium heat and add a little olive oil. When hot add the onion and garlic, cook over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the minced chicken breast and cook, stirring all the time until the chicken is just cooked through. At this stage a little white wine can be added as the alcohol will be cook out whilst it cooks. But if you prefer the filling can be made, to the same standard without adding the wine. If adding the wine cook until almost all of the wine has evaporated, remove from the heat and add the grated cheddar cheese, season to taste and add the chopped parsley.

Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Roll the pasta as directed in the pasta recipe on this blog under base recipes.

Lay the sheets onto a work surface and place teaspoons of filling as shown in the picture. Brush around the filling with the beaten egg and fold over. Press down between the filling to remove any air bubbles and cut each of the ravioli’s into squares as shown on the picture. Place the ravioli’s onto a well floured surface and continue with the same process with the other 3 quarters of pasta dough.

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the water and cook the ravioli in batches until all are cooked.

For the sauce;

Place a pan over medium heat and add a little olive oil. When hot add the onion and garlic, cook over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the diced bacon and cook until the bacon starts to crisp slightly. At this stage the white wine can be added as the alcohol will be cook out whilst it cooks. But if you prefer the sauce can be made, to the same standard without adding the wine. If adding the wine cook until almost all of the wine has evaporated, add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and turn to a low heat, simmer uncovered until the sauce is thickened and a lovely shinny, glossy consistency.

Season to taste.

To serve add the ravioli’s to the sauce and toss everything well, add parsley and mix. Spoon the ravioli’s onto serving plates and top with shaved parmesan.

Serve and enjoy!!! The kids will love it...........