Saturday, October 30, 2010

Homemade Ravioli with Tofu Ricotta





Oh how I've longed to eat ravioli but only had the choice of paying $18 at one of my favorite vegan restaurants called Fatty's Cafe. I heard of people using wonton wrappers to make ravioli but all the one's I've found contained egg, so that was not an option. I knew another choice was to make my own pasta noodles but one of my aunts freaked me out earlier this year, telling me that one of the hardest things to make was pasta noodles. So because of this I never attempted to make it, in fear that it would be a disaster.

Well last week I was reading a post from one of my favorite bloggers over at The Witchy Kitchen and I saw that she made ravioli. Something sparked in me after reading her post and I knew I just had to concur this fear I had with pasta noodle making.

Let me just say that it is not hard at all! If you can make a pie crust, you can do this! Why did it take me so long to finally make ravioli..I was missing out this whole time. You can play around with this recipe and add different fillings or even change the sauce to an Alfredo. The possibilities are endless! I really do hope you guys all try this recipe. There's just so much satisfaction knowing that you made it yourself : ]

P.S. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween tomorrow. If you own a black cat, I urge you to keep him indoors for the night. I've heard that people like to kidnap black cats on Halloween, so please make sure your kitty is safe.


Makes about 24 raviolis, Serves 4

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
* 1 1/2 cups semolina flour
* 3/4 cup of water
* 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
* 3 to 4 cups of your favorite marinara sauce

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together, either in a bread making or a large bowl. If doing by hand, knead the dough for about 8 minutes, adding more flour if sticky or more water if the dough won't hold together well.

2. Once you have kneaded it into a smooth ball, cover with plastic wrap in a slightly greased bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.

Start preparing your filling while you wait ( See Below )

3. Once your dough has rested, divide it in half or in quarters, for easier rolling and begin to roll each piece on a well floured surface. Continue rolling until it is about 1/8 inch thick.

Once all the dough is rolled out, its time to start assembling them. You can go about this several different ways.

The first way would be to lay out one sheet of pasta and place about 1/2 tsp of filling, two inches apart. Then place another sheet of pasta on top and press down around the outside edges of the dough, to seal. Cut out each ravioli using a ravioli cutter or a pastry wheel.

The second way would be to cheat and use a ravioli maker (I use this one).You basically do the same as above but using one of these helps to get each ravioli to the exact same size.

4. Place one piece of dough and fill each ravioli with ricotta.

5. Place the top layer over the bottom layer.

6. Press and seal the outside edges of the dough, using your fingers. Roll across the top dough to cut out.

Make sure to keep each ravioli separate from the others because if they touch they will stick like crazy.

7. Once done, place in a pot of boiling water and cook until al dente, 7-10 minutes. Remove and drain well.

To Serve - Place in a large bowl and add the marinara sauce. Divide the raviolis among four plates.


Tofu Ricotta Cheese
Makes 3 cups
Ingredients
* 7 ounces water, packed firm tofu, drained ( about half of a carton )
* 1/4 cup yellow miso
* 2/3 cup water
* 1/4 cup tahini
* 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 large cloves garlic
* 1 tsp dried basil
* 1 tsp dried oregano

Directions
1. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. The cheese will keep for 2 days, covered and refrigerated.

23 comments:

  1. you must have read my mind!!!! I was looking all over cyberspace for a Vegan ravioli recipe! Its already on the menu for next week. They look great!

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  2. Those look so pillowy perfect! I love ravioli...and I'd def pay 18 bucks for a bowl of yours!

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  3. Wow, Jacklyn! You know, the prettiness of your pasta makes it worth going to the trouble of making the homemade pasta instead of using wonton. And I suppose you didn't use a pasta machine-just the ravioli mold, no? I'm going to look at the mold now...
    Really beautiful, Jacklyn. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

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  4. Jessica - Let me know how they turned out! I ended up making two batches of the recipe because they were just so darn good!

    Rose - aww you're too nice..thank you

    Nichole - Thank you : ]

    Stella - I wish I had a pasta machine! But since they are a little high in price, the mold had to do. But it did work out well..I hope you can try making some one day : ]

    Kat - it is! all you need is patience and time..you should try!

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  5. Hi Jackly,
    Your ravioli looks so mouthwatering. I love Stella's blog too, she is also one of my favorite bloggers.
    I'm sorry to write this here but I also need to hear from you on your submission to my YBR event. I didn't receive a reply to my email. But if you are still participating I need you to email me your information, otherwise I have to delete your Linky entry. Thanks and I look forward to receiving your info.

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  6. Your ravioli looks AMAZING! And so perfect too. I would like to try making some, thanks for sharing the recipe and for the tutorial :)

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  7. Those raviolis look so much better than any of the vegan store-bought options- Wow! Now you've got me craving those little pasta pillows here too... I'll be hanging on to this recipe... ;)

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  8. What a great looking first attempt! I am still working on making my own pasta dough and it's getting easier now that I've done it about five times. The ravioli press looks like the key here to beautiful ravioli! Next time I try, I'll follow your step by step.

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  9. Your homemade ravioli look fantastic. So plump and full of flavour.

    I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new vegetarian photo gallery showcasing the best vegetarian dishes and recipes on the web.

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  10. Thanks for this awesome recipe - can't wait to try it!

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  11. Yours look so much better than mine...beautiful dish.

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  12. Spicie Foodie - Yeah Stella really is amazing : ]

    Mandee, Hannah, Jessica - I hope you guys all do try it. It really does taste just like how I remember ravioli to taste

    Vegolicious - Oh thank you for the kind comment. I will def add my stuff to your site : ]

    Tami - Let me know how it turns out when you do!

    Tender Branson - The key was the ravioli maker..without that mine wouldn't have turned out so perfect looking. I very good investment at under $30.

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  13. I am speechless at how amazing these look!! ^_^ Your ravioli maker is a great tool...

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  14. I made your ravioli tonight and it worked out great! I can't wait to make it again. I used a different filling because I was afraid I wouldn't like the tahini, although your recipe sounds really good so I might try it sometime. Anyway, thanks for the great recipe and direction. Here's my post about it:
    http://ohforpetessake-tami.blogspot.com/2010/12/kids-sewing-and-homemade-ravioli.html

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  15. Cool, you make your own pasta! Most of the blogs I found online buys pasta. I'll be making this recipe this weekend because my dad is coming after a year in other country. Thanks for posting this amazing recipe!

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  16. Just made these tonight. They're awesome! The dough was very easy to work with. Highly recommended.

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  17. Can you freeze this ravioli, without the sauce ofcourse?

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  18. Hi.. I tried making it but my ravioli opened up while boiling. I had made a stiff dough, which was cracking a little may be I should have used more water or lesser semolina. What do you think would have helped. Also, I mixed some corn with ricotta. Do you think the heavyness would have opened the ravioli ?
    Tha

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  19. We just made this and it was fantastic! 10/10.
    Had a bunch of non vegans over and they were super impressed.

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  20. My boyfriend has declared this the best food he's ever eaten, ever in the history of food.
    I'm cheap and last minute, so I opted for an ice cube tray as a mold for my ravioli, and it works really well -- I seal the edges, then turn it out onto the counter, slice them apart and crimp with a fork.
    Thanks for the recipe and the encouragement to try pasta making!

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  21. My boyfriend has declared this the best food he's ever eaten, ever in the history of food.
    I'm cheap and last minute, so I opted for an ice cube tray as a mold for my ravioli, and it works really well -- I seal the edges, then turn it out onto the counter, slice them apart and crimp with a fork.
    Thanks for the recipe and the encouragement to try pasta making!

    ReplyDelete