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

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Asparagus Ravioli with Almond Brown Butter Sauce

Ravioli are easy to make and these are totally gourmet

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy ravioli recipe, gourmet ravioli fillings, homemade ravioli

Servings: 4

Calories: 956kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

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

US Customary - Metric

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.

Notes

Nutrition info calculated with wonton skins.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 956kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 265mg | Sodium: 558mg | Potassium: 545mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2239IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 277mg | Iron: 9mg

The post Asparagus Ravioli with Almond Brown Butter Sauce appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

It’s time for football and tailgating again, and that means it’s time for snacking too. These crispy baked Parmesan ravioli will be a real crowd pleaser and they’re easy to make too.

Perfect For Tailgating

When I first saw these ravioli on Kleinworth Co, I knew immediately this was something I just had to make.

And since we’re getting into football season again as well as tailgating parties, I can’t think of a more perfect food to compliment those occasions than this ravioli.

They stay perfectly crisp so they will transport well–something you have to be mindful of with tailgating. I paired this with my quick chunky tomato sauce which not only is delicious in itself, but it’s a good keeper because it contains no meat or anything that requires refrigeration. The acidity of the tomatoes keeps it from spoiling too.

Novel Idea

Gina really had a great idea when she came up with this.

My idea of ravioli was boiled or steamed with some kind of pasta sauce. I have to say, I love this way of making ravioli!

Another benefit to these is there is no added fat and they are baked.

Most folks, including myself, can get behind something that’s healthier and tastes good too.

Sauce Is Your Choice

Since the sauce is the thing that pulls this dish together, I recommend using your own sauce or a high-quality ready-made pasta sauce.

For these I used my Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce. I felt that the chunkiness of the sauce added more “chew” factor to the ravioli.

The Recipe

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Crispy Baked Parmesan Ravioli

It’s time for football and tailgating again, and that means it’s time for snacking too. These crispy baked Parmesan ravioli will be a real crowd pleaser and they’re easy to make too.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Appetizers, pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: baked ravioli, parmesan, ravioli

Servings: 2 -4

Calories: 1075kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 9-12 oz package fresh ravioli, any filling you like
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp parsley the dry kind not fresh
• salt & pepper to taste optional as the crumbs are seasoned & cheese is salty
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
• Cooking spray preferably olive oil variety

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a large baking sheet with parchment then spray liberally with the cooking spray.
• Mix breadcrumbs with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese. Place on a plate.
• Whisk eggs with water in a small bowl.
• Place about 4 raviolis in the egg mixture and coat both sides. Let excess egg drip back into the bowl and coat with the bread crumbs. Place on prepared sheet
• Spray the tops of the raviolis with more cooking spray then sprinkle with the shredded Parmesan.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until crumbs are golden brown and the ravioli are crispy.
• Serve with quick chunky tomato sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 1075kcal | Carbohydrates: 136g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 256mg | Sodium: 2975mg | Potassium: 361mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 883IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 653mg | Iron: 20mg

*Adapted from Kleinworth Co

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