Homemade. Vegan. Whole wheat. Ravioli.
Ummmmmm . . . enough said.
I saw Giada DeLaurentiis make homemade ravioli on the Food Network, and she made it look ridiculously easy. So I figured this is a great solution to the lack of vegan ravioli in my life – is it just me, or is that a very difficult thing to find?
Filling first! Gotta cook it so it can cool before we fill our little ravioli.
ravioli filling:
serves 4-6*
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 medium carrot, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
4 C loosely packed baby spinach
2 oz tofu (a quarter of your average sized pack of tofu)
1/3 C mozzarella-style vegan cheese**
*this ravioli is filling – a portion of 1/6 the total recipe will look really small, but should be plenty!
**I used Daiya
Heat 2 T water or vegetable stock in a very large frying pan. (Or oil if you want, but I think the added flavor wouldn’t make much difference in this dish, so why eat the extra fat and calories?) Add shallot and carrot and saute a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and the spinach, and cook until the spinach wilts. Allow to cool. P.S. this filling is incredible, and I definitely recommend testing some on a cracker or some bread.
Once the spinach mixture is cooled, blend it with the tofu and cheese, add salt and pepper to taste, and you have vegan ravioli filling! While you wait for it to cool, make the dough.
ravioli dough:
lightly adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis (I just used whole wheat pastry flour!):
2 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 C very hot water
Combine ingredients in a bowl – annnd you’re done. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as Giada made it look. The consistency of the dough is very important. I’d take a little piece off to test before rolling it all out – you want it to be fairly sticky, but not so much that it sticks to a lightly floured board (if it does, add more flour). It also should roll out fairly easily but the edges shouldn’t crack like in the picture above (if they do, add more hot water) . . . that was my first try, and it did not turn out well!
To assemble your ravioli, divide the dough into four pieces so it’s easier to work with. Roll one out until it’s almost as thin as you can make it, and shape it into a rectangle. Dollop the filling onto one long side of the dough, leaving some space in between. You can make them whatever size you want, but I found it much faster and easier to make really jumbo ravioli.
Fold the other side of the dough over, press in between each spoonful of filling, and then cut in between the filling to form your ravioli! I wasn’t a fan of the raviolis that ended up with really thick edges – I cut those off. Press the two sides together so much that they thin out quite a bit, then cut off the excess and re-roll it.
While you’re making your ravioli, you can bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook them. They only take about 5 minutes to cook the super-jumbo ones. Just make sure they don’t stick together while they’re cooking away.
Ta da!
Important Note: I know you were all going to rush out, find the ingredients to make this, and whip up homemade ravioli right this second. I know. But don’t eat them all, cause tomorrow I’ll post an exciting recipe for those leftovers!
Nutrition facts per serving (for 1/4 of recipe): Calories: 326; Calories from Fat: 36; Total Fat: 4.0g; Saturated Fat: 0.8g; Sodium: 124mg; Total Carbohydrates: 59.6g; Dietary Fiber: 8.8g; Sugars: 0.6g; Protein: 10.0g
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