Homemade Cheese Ravioli
I have never been a huge fan of spaghetti. My favorite Italian dishes growing up were always the cheesy ones. I loved stuffed pastas like cannelloni, manicotti, ravioli, and lasagna.
In our tiny, California kitchen we do not have room to make homemade pasta. It’s fun and I recommend experiencing it at some point. However, it takes many special tools and techniques.
This recipe is not difficult and not super time consuming. The method we apply here utilizes wonton wrappers in lieu of homemade pasta. When you boil wonton wrappers they taste very similar to pasta. This gives you the flexibility of creating any filling you like and using your own sauce without having to deal with homemade pasta dough.
The one warning I do have is that it makes 26 ravioli and it does not freeze well. Thus, it’s a great excuse to host a party!
Cheese Ravioli
Ingredients
For the filling
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup grated fontina cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons minced basil
- salt and pepper to taste We used 3/4 teaspoon of each
- 1 egg
For the "pasta"
- 1 package wonton wrappers (52 per pack)
- 1 egg
- olive oil, pepper, salt for cooking
- tomato sauce, basil, and parmesan to garnish
Instructions
Make the filling.
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Mix the cheeses together with the basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg in a large bowl.
Set up a work station for making the ravioli.
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Lay down a large sheet of parchment paper and place on top of it: the bowl of filling, wonton wrappers, a fork, and a brush.
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Whisk another egg in a small bowl and place this on the parchment paper as well.
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Lay down six wonton wrappers in two rows of three. [See picture below.]
Create ravioli.
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Brush the edges of all wonton wrappers with the egg.
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Place one teaspoon of filling in the center of the top row of wrappers.
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Press down the edges of the wrappers with your fingers to create a seal.
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Use the fork to crimp all four sides of the ravioli.
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Continue this process with the remaining wonton wrappers, creating 26 individual ravioli.
Cook the ravioli.
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Prepare a large pot with water, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
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Set the water to boil, and after it reaches a rolling boil insert the pasta.
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The pasta is ready to come out when it floats to the top (3-4 minutes).
Top with sauce, cheese, and basil.
Recipe Notes
When adding the cheese filling to the ravioli, be sure not to use too much. You may have leftover filling, but using too much will result in ravioli that have burst open in boiling water and are inedible.
