The World's Oldest Noodle and Cauliflower Ravioli with the Best Lime Butter Ever

A few weeks ago I saw a television piece on the oldest noodles in the world. They are so valuable they’re kept in a safe because their discovery turned noodle history on its ear. Before the discovery, the noodle history clock started ticking when noodles were mentioned in a Chinese book written between AD25 to 220. Now we have physical evidence that there were noodles 4000 years ago.

The noodles were miraculously found in northwestern China under yards of dirt in an over-turned bowl.  When they were tested, it was revealed they were made from millet, not wheat.  Two varieties of millet, foxtail and broomcorn were grown in the area at the time –– evidently you needed the properties of both varieties to make a dough pliable and strong enough for pulling noodles (you can read about the find HERE).

The discovery settles the argument about who invented noodles first –– at least for now. The Italians can’t claim that title.

14th century Pasta making, Vienna

Italians can claim some fairly venerable pasta but Romans weren’t the only pasta lovers back in the day. Aside from a lasagna noodle-related boiled dough enjoyed in the Roman Empire and the well-documented ancient noodledom of China, Persia and other middle eastern countries as well as Africa and India had pasta in one form or another during the early part of the first millennium –– seen in the form of noodles or dumplings.

In the Middle Ages,  pasta cropped up in old French cookbooks, Sicily had pasta before Marco Polo came back from China and even England had pasta –– it appears in Richard II’s Forme of Cury (that I wrote about HERE) in a lovely recipe for ravioles full of cheese and butter. That fact was something of a surprise to me. I always thought noodles and even stuffed dumplings were universal but that ravioli was an Italian thing. It seems they were so good other cultures adopted them (probably passed through the Catholic Church).

I read that the earliest mention of ravioli comes from a merchant of Prato in Tuscany in the 14th century. A 14th century Venetian manuscript had a recipe for ravioli full of herbs and cheese simmered in broth. Master chef, Bartolomeo Scappi (I wrote about him HERE) served them with chicken in 1549 for the Papal Enclave. Some medieval ravioli were made with herbs, cheese and flour that were then boiled but not encased in pasta dough –– more like the northern European dumpling today (a lovely writer named Jen Lin-Liu has written a book, On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta if you want to find out more about noodle history).

The Creative Cooking Crew announced dumplings as the challenge this month and then Huffington Post put up a great list of 20 dumplings around the world. Suddenly I had a lot of choices from all over the world vying for my attention but decided on a ravioli flavored with a new favorite flavor combination. I was inspired when I found some lime compound butter in the freezer and put it on steamed cauliflower with a bit of cream –– wow. I thought putting a creamy cauliflower filling in pasta with lime butter sauce would be divine. It was, but you may want to make more of the butter –– it’s irresistible.   You can make it from scratch, with gyoza wrappers or even spread between lasagna noodles and warmed in the oven if you don't want to fuss.

Do visit Marie Telling's heroic piece in BUZZFEED about 44 Classic French Dishes to Try Before You Die HERE.There are 3 dishes from Lostpastremembered in the series, so I am pleased as punch!

Cauliflower Ravioli with Lime Cream

1 recipe Cauliflower filling
1 recipe pasta or a package of gyoza wrappers or 6 cooked lasagna noodles
1 recipe lime Cream
sautéed cauliflower slices and herbs for garnish

Lay out the pasta or gyoza wrappers.

If using homemade pasta, put a small amount of filling in piles along the pasta length (I like to make them in 2 sizes because I like the way it looks on the plate). Brush water on all the exposed pasta and lay another sheet of pasta over the top. Press along the exterior of the mounds of filling to seal then cut out the ravioli and place on a floured piece of film. Cover loosely and let rest.

OR, put the filling in the center of the gyoza and brush exposed pasta with water. Put another gyoza wrapper on top and seal. Cover loosely and let rest in the fridge for a bit.

If you want a no fuss method,  use lasagna noodles, lay half of them in a buttered dish, spoon the filling over them and top with the other noodles.  Cover with foil and  warm in the oven (350º for 15 minutes should do it).  Then put the lime butter on them to serve with the cauliflower slices

Boil the pasta for a few minutes. Toss the cooked ravioli in the butter or pour over the ravioli and serve, garnish with browned cauliflower slices and parsley.

Cauliflower Filling

1 c steamed cauliflower, roughly chopped
½ shallot, minced
clove of garlic, minced

2 T butter

1 T cognac
2 – 3 T cream
2 T chopped parsley
2 t chopped fresh marjoram
S&P
1/8 – ¼ t nutmeg (to taste)
1/8 – ¼ t cayenne (to taste)

Sauté the shallot, garlic and cauliflower in 1 T of the butter till nicely browned. Reserve a few of the best pieces for serving and add 1 cup of water to the pan. Cook till the pieces are very tender, add the cognac. Put the rest in a processor. Blend. Add the cream 1 T at a time till it forms a very thick texture like loose, mashed potatoes. Add the salt and pepper and spices to taste

Pasta

1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ c flour
¼ c semolina
1 t oil

Mix together and knead for a few minutes. Let rest 1-2 hours then make sheets of pasta.

Use immediately to make ravioli.

Lime Butter

4 T butter
Zest of 1 lime (be careful not to get the white part of the peel… it will make the butter bitter. I used a zester for curls and did the rest using a microplane.
1 T lime juice
4 T cream
Pinch of sugar (some limes are quite sour, do this to taste –– you just want to take the edge off the lime)
Good pinch of salt
Pinch of coriander

Put the butter in a pan and add the zest and juice.  Turn on the heat just barely to melt the butter, stirring as it melts.  This should emulsify the mixture. You can even remove it from the heat as you stir.  Add the cream 1 T at a time putting the mixture on and off the heat.  This will make a beautiful, glossy sauce. Add the sugar and salt and coriander.  This is best made just before you serve it.

See the Creative Cooking Crew Pinterest Board HERE
and HERE for the roundup