It was experiment day.

Plan: Make beet ravioli with poppy seed butter using homemade pasta dough, plus make kalamata olive bread with oregano.

Beet Ravioli with Poppy Seed Butter

(This recipe came from Bonappetit.com)

Ingredients

• 2 large red beets
• 1/2 cup fresh whole milk ricotta cheese
• 2 tbs dried breadcrumbs
• 1 1/4 fresh egg pasta or wonton wrappers
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tbs poppy seeds

To begin we must first make the fresh egg pasta. You will need 2 3/4 cup soft wheat flour (Cake flour) and 4 large eggs. Mix flour until clumps of moist dough form but do not make it into a ball. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and work into a ball. Knead until smooth using flour if it begins to stick. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temp for at least 20 min and up to 2 hrs.

Now we can begin the actual recipe.

Roast beets in oven, preheated at 400 degrees, wrapped in foil for about an hour. Cool beats and peel skin. Grate the beets into a bowl and add ricotta cheese and breadcrumbs. Add pepper and salt if needed.

Roll fresh egg pasta into thin sheets (use pasta maker if you can, I lacked one and you can tell). Using a 3-in round cutter, cut sheet into 7 rounds. There will be a total of 56 rounds. If you are not using the pasta but wonton wrapper just cut them accordingly and follow the same instructions.

Spoon about a tsp of the mixture onto one side of each round or enough to be able to taste it but not overflow when shut. Dampen edges with water and fold dough over. Try to get as much air as possible out and seal shut. Make sure they are sealed shut very well, you don't want them to open up while you cook them!

Melt butter and add poppy seeds to butter. Cook ravioli in large pot of boiling water for about 2 min or until they seem ready, stirring often. Transfer cooked pasta to dish with butter coat and serve! Sprinkle Parmesan on for an extra layer of flavor.

Kalamata Olive Bread with Oregano

Recipe courtesy of Cooking light magazine

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tbs butter, melted
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 tbs chopped fresh oregano (I used dried, worked out fine too)

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Heat oil in a skillet and add onion. Saute until tender.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Mix buttermilk, butter and egg whites with a whisk and pour contents into well. Stir until just moist. Fold in onion, olives, and oregano.

Spread batter into a 8 x 4 in loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cook for 45 min.

Nutrition: Calories 133, Fat 4.6 g, Fiber .8 g, 3 points per serving (12 servings)

My two experiments for the day. One was...interesting. The other successful! The pasta was a really interesting task. I will not lie it did not turn out anything like the picture but it did taste incredibly good! Just didn't look that way. My biggest problem was making the pasta dough so thin. It was incredibly thick. When I cooked the pasta it grew in size to about double! It was fun watching them though! I tried using the wonton wrappers instead and those turned out a little more like the picture but they kept breaking open! So eventually my butter turned pink and then my noodles turned pink...The bread was really good though and looked like it should have! The olives made it kind salty but in a good way, if that makes sense...

The conclusion is I tried, I failed, I conquered..

and made a mess.