TF Ravioli (or not)

all measurements are approximate

• 1 batch pelmeni dough
• 1 lb carrots (I used three large ones)
• 1 lb potatoes (I used 5 smallish-to-medium ones)
• 1 large onion
• several cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup whey
• water
• 1 lb ground beef
• green veggie...frozen peas, spinach, swiss chard, kale, green beans, zucchini, etc
• bone broth
• sea salt and other spices

Allow the pelmeni dough to ferment at least three days. The day before you make the raviolis, shred the carrots and potatoes in your food processor. Or harness the limitless supply of toddler energy bouncing off your walls to grate those root vegetables. Be aware that you will also have some carrots and potatoes on the walls if you use this option. :) I used my food processor, shredding the carrots first so that when I dumped the contents, the potatoes would be on the bottom (hopefully preventing too much browning).

Place the shredded veggies in a large bowl. Pour the whey over the veggies (a la NT's hashbrown recipe), and fill the bowl with enough filtered water to cover. Put a lid on the bowl and leave in a warmish place overnight.

Meanwhile, mince the onion and the garlic. I used 5 cloves. If garlic = good, then mo' garlic = mo' bettah. That's what I always say. Okay, that's the first time I've said it. Catchy, though, isn't it? I want to make a tee shirt now.

After the onions & garlic are minced, put them in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for tomorrow. You can chop your green veggies and refrigerate at this time as well. Or you can be lazy like me and hope you have a bag of frozen green stuff somewhere in your freezer. :)

On Ravioli Day, lightly brown the hamburger with whatever spices you'd prefer, then set aside. Next, add some fat to the pan and brown the onions/garlic. Add the drained potatoes/carrots. When the veggies are mostly done, add the meat back into the mix and salt/season to taste.

Meanwhile, heat a quart of bone broth with a little sea salt - you'll drop the raviolis into this broth to cook.

Roll out your noodle dough into 6" rounds or so. Place a couple of tablespoons of filling onto the dough round and crimp to seal the dough.

Notice the gaping holes forming as the dough loses shape and the hot filling oozes all over. Say something witty, like "$#%@!" Try again. Realize your dough is too fragile for this sort of thing and picture a big blobby mess of dough and filling floating around in a pot of broth. Shudder.

Quickly and calmly reassure your children that you do indeed know what you are doing and that what you intended to make was not Ravioli, but some sort of Meat Pie. Perhaps a Calzone, even. Proceed to roll out more pelmeni dough to make crusts for these Meaty Calzone Pie Thingies.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you search for suitable pans in which to bake the MCPTs. Fill the crusts with the Meaty Filling and cover with Calzone Crusty Dough Stuff. Bake until golden.

Drink the warm broth while you remember how little fat is in the noodle dough. Say something witty, like "$#%@! - we're doomed to tough crusts!" Decide to slather the hot Calzone-y Pie Things with butter when they emerge from the oven and resolve to just cook the noodles separately in the broth and top with the filling, should there ever be a next time.

Sigh.