SOURDOUGH!!! (and a couple of ravioli recipes)

Yes, at 1:31am, after weeks of failed starters, I now have a respectable loaf of sourdough bread. I am ecstatic. Of course, I'll probably eat the entire thing tomorrow in sandwiches, but now I have a good starter, and that makes me happy. I cheated, yes, but it's worth it to finally have something work. I've read that the "wild" yeasts overtake the store-bought stuff after a couple of weeks, so we'll see if the flavor changes then. I still haven't cut into the loaf, and probably won't until tomorrow, since I'm about to drop from exhaustion (I got into the kitchen at 7:30 this morning... er... yesterday morning... to make ravioli). I had no idea it would take so long to rise, but at least now I know to start proofing first thing in the morning.

At least I was able to knock out some ravioli fillings while I was waiting for the bread to proof and rise and such. I've finished and tested the shrimp ravioli, and they were pretty good. I'm thinking of pairing those with a cream-based sauce, as the shrimp flavor is really strong. Which is great if you're a seafood fanatic, but I'm not. Hopefully everyone else will like it. I adapted the shrimp from someone else's recipe, but the two other fillings I've made tonight are totally my recipes, and the fillings taste AWESOME. The recipes for those fillings follow:

Cremini Mushroom and Spinach Ravioli Filling
* 6 cremini mushrooms, chopped sorta finely
* 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/3 cup or so frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
* butter
* 1/3 cup ricotta
* 1/4 cup Romano, grated
Melt some butter in a skillet and add garlic. When the garlic is golden brown, throw in the mushrooms. If it's looking a little dry, just add more butter. Don't worry, you can diet tomorrow. When the mushrooms are done, take them off the heat and add to spinach. Let cool a bit. Meanwhile, put the cheeses in the food processor. Add the cooled spinach and mushroom mixture and obliterate. Fill up your ravioli with whatever pasta dough (or egg roll skins) you like.

Zucchini Ravioli Filling
Yeah, I know it's tempting to skip over this one, but it's really tasty.
* 2 c diced zucchini
* 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 c red onion, chopped finely
* butter
* Sun-dried tomato bread dipper (Adam's Reserve is what I used, if it's not available in your area, use any bread dipper or Italian seasoning blend. I love the sun-dried tomato bits in this one, though.)
* 1/3 c Romano, grated
* white bread or bread crumbs
Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent. Season to taste with bread dipper and add garlic. After garlic has cooked a minute or two, add zucchini. Adjust seasoning to taste. Cook until zucchini is very tender, and then pour it into a food processor. Let it cool a minute, then add cheese. Combine until smooth, or almost, and then add in bread, a bit at a time, until it has thickened enough to be used as a ravioli filling.