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Asparagus ravioli in a delectable brown butter almond sauce is totally gourmet. However, it’s extremely easy!
Asparagus Ravioli Is Easy
This delightful pasta meal has every gourmet earmark you can name. But unlike many “haute cuisine” or gourmet dinners, this one is ridiculously easy! Since you can take advantage of a convenience ingredient, it’s as easy as 1-2-3.
All that’s left is the filling to make and who can’t mix together a couple of ingredients. It’s so easy the kiddos can help here although you might want to reserve this for a date-night dinner.
Wonton Skins? Yep
That’s the big secret to making this asparagus ravioli or any ravioli for that matter so easy.
They’re readily available in the produce section of practically every supermarket so they’re quite easy to find. It’s just a matter of plopping in some filling and sealing them.
However, if you’re a real purest and wish to make your own pasta, they’re still very easy. This process does require that you have a pasta dough roller–either on a proper pasta machine or an attachment to your stand mixer. The only investment in time is the 30 minutes the dough requires to rest.
The above photos show the equipment and steps to make these ravioli with your own pasta. The recipe for the dough will be in the recipe card–and here it’s important to WEIGH the ingredients so the dough is successful. Follow your machine’s directions for the thickness to roll. On my KitchenAid roller, it’s #5 or #6 and on my manual Marcato Atlas it’s #4 or #5, depending on how thin I want the pasta. I’d recommend using the lower number until you feel confident enough working with a thinner sheet As for the rolling process, there’s many good videos on YouTube that show you. It’s basically how I learned to do this.
No Mascarpone? No Problem
Mascarpone is readily available in Europe, but the US hasn’t caught up there. Oh, you can get it, but it’s outrageously expensive. I don’t recommend buying it even if you can find it–hint–it’s in the deli department or gourmet cheese area in some stores.
You can make a credible substitute with cream cheese (the standard kind–not fat-free nor “light”). All you need to do is mix 8 ounces of softened cream cheese with 1/4 cup of whipping cream. That’s it. And truthfully? The flavor or cream cheese is so close to mascarpone, I wouldn’t bother and just use ultra-softened cream cheese.
The Recipe
Asparagus Ravioli with Almond Brown Butter Sauce
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 lb fresh asparagus
- 6 tbs mascarpone see post for substitute
- 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
- 1 garlic clove finely minced or pressed
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Ravioli:
- 36 wonton skins or your own rolled pasta dough
Pasta Dough:
- 9 oz flour
- 6 oz eggs
Almond Brown Butter Sauce:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Cut off the tips of the asparagus, then blanch them for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a bowl of ice water. Do the same for the asparagus stalks only drain them on paper towels. When the stalks are cool enough to handle, chop them finely and place them in a medium bowl.
- Add the mascarpone (directions for a substitute is in the post), ricotta, grated cheese and minced garlic; mix well, cover and refrigerate if you are preparing your own pasta dough. If you are using wanton skins, go to the next step.
- Lay out 18 wonton skins and place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center. Brush the edges with a little water and top with another wonton skin, pressing all 4 edges to seal. Cover with a damp cloth if you're not cooking them immediately.
- To cook the ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil over high heat. Meanwhile make the sauce by melting the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds and stir to coat and cook just until the butter just begins to get brown, then set it aside and keep warm. Place the raviolis in the boiling water. When they begin to float, cook for 1 minute, then remove them with a slotted spoon to a warm plate.
- Spoon sauce over ravioli and top with drained and reserved asparagus tips.
- Make with you own pasta--beat the pasta dough ingredients until a dough forms. Knead on a well-floured surface for 2 minutes; form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide dough into quarters. For each quarter, roll dough out very thin (if using a rolling pin) or using a pasta rolling attachment or pasta machine. Using the rolling attachment/machine, you will want to roll to #5 or #6 on the machine. You will want 6-8 sheets approximately 12-inches long and 4-inches wide.
- You can form the ravioli free style or use a ravioli tray. You will get LESS ravioli this way than using wonton skins because they will have more filling per ravioli. I formed these free style and got 13 ravioli.
- Cook the same as for wonton skins.
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