1/2 cup button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup bacon bits

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup water

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté garlic until tender.
2. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add the bacon bits and allow mixture to cool.
4. Sift together flour and salt in a bowl.
5. Mix together eggs and oil and mix into the flour with your hands.
6. Add water bit by bit as necessary to form into a satiny ball of dough.
7. Quarter the dough and place one piece on a lightly floured surface.
8. Roll dough thin enough that you can see the table through it or can see through it when held up to the light.
9. Repeat with a second piece of dough.
10. Place a teaspoon of prepared mushroom filling about an inch from the upper edges of one of the rectangles.
11. Continue spooning mushroom filling as if the rectangle were divided in a grid and you were placing the mixture in the middle of each square.
12. Layer the other piece of dough over top. Seal the top edges together and work your way down, sealing around the mushroom mixture to form pockets.
13. Cut into squares to form ravioli and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
14. Boil ravioli in salted water for 6-8 minutes to serve.

Makes 4 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound spinach
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
16 ounces canned cannellini beans
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté until tender.
3. Add spinach and cook until it wilts.
4. Reduce heat, add lemon juice, zest and beans and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (optional)

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Stir in cream, then add the parmesan cheese.
3. Continue to stir until thick, being careful not to boil.
4. Season with nutmeg and white pepper or spices of your choosing.

Makes 1 cup

A friend of mine requested an Alfredo Sauce recipe, so that was the basis for this meal.
Alfredo is one of the simplest sauces to make being comprised of only 3 ingredients; cream, butter and parmesan cheese.
Sure, in essence, it is little more than flavored fat, but it's a delicious, rich sauce that compliments so many things. A
little goes a long way and is extremely satisfying. I like to add a little bit of nutmeg to my alfredo, but you could add
basically any Italian spice/herb and yield great results.

I'm not a big fan of bacon, but I really love carbonara. Carbonara is very similar to alfredo, except involving mushrooms
and bacon to add to the flavor. I made some homemade Ravioli stuffed with sautéed mushrooms and bacon to give the whole dish a bit more dimension. The nutmeg in the sauce compliments the mushrooms and with some grated white pepper for a little bit of a nutty kick. Shannon described this as "the most amazing cream sauce I've ever [not] tasted." She's sick and has defunct taste buds, but you get the idea. It's worth checking out.

I served the ravioli with a simple Cannellini and Spinach Sauté that's infused with the
flavors of lemon and garlic and a bit of a kick from dried red pepper flakes. The meaty texture of the beans compliments the similar texture from the mushroom filling of the ravioli and the combination of the lemon, garlic and alfredo sauce is
absolutely perfect.