Toasted Ribald Ravioli

Toasted Ribald Ravioli 

From Saint Louis' great Italian heritage, this was invented here in a neighborhood known as “The Hill”. This is where all of our great Italian restaurants call home.

For our celebration, slave preferred to make a Spinach – Ricotta Cheese mixture for the filling that is very low in fat!

Ingredients:

• Package Egg Roll Wraps (found in produce section)about 15 sheets

Pasta sealer 2 eggs stirred in 2 Tbs water

Stuffing:

• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) packages firm tofu, well-drained
• 8 ounces Non Fat, cream cheese Neufchatel
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well-drained
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons basil (dried or fresh)
• 2 teaspoons parsley (dried or fresh)

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

• ground pepper
• salt

Breading:

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup skim milk
• 1 pgk Italian bread crumbs

Dipping Sauce:

(In a hurry? Mix one part bottled Chilli sauce with two parts pizza sauce)

• 1 cup pizza / tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup of ketchup
  2 tablespoons horseradish
  1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
  squirt of lemon juice
  Tabasco sauce, to taste

Directions:

Make the stuffing first.

• First press your tofu!
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  To Press tofu, drain any liquid from the block of tofu. Fold paper towels around the tofu and set a big wrought iron skillet on top of it to press out the excess moisture. Allow to sit for about an hour to press.
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  • When you chop the garlic: first smash it with the side of your knife. This will loosen the paper like skin. Then cut each clove lengthwise. If you find a tiny green line, take the tip of your knife and pop this out. If not, it will add a very unwanted bitter taste.
  
  
  
  In olive oil, saute chopped onions and garlic, Stir in mushrooms, basil and parsley and saute for a few more minutes.
• In a bowl, combine saute pan contents with well-squeezed / drained tofu and the cream Neufchatel cheese.
• Add well-drained spinach to saute pan and heat briefly to remove any remaining moisture in spinach. Incorporate into "cheese" mixture, salt and pepper liberally.
• Cover bowl and let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes, preferably over night-The longer it sits together, the better the flavors meld.

Assembly:

On 1 Egg roll wrap, distribute tablespoon-sized portions of the filling, in the middle of one side.

Brush around the filling with the egg wash and fold over the other end. Press down around the mound to push out any air bubbles and seal. Pinch the edges shut to ensure no air is trapped inside. Using the tines of a fork press along each edge to finish.

Freeze until hard.  The ravioli not you! :-)

 Cut the Egg Roll Wraps in half with a table knife.

Place a tablespoon of filling on one side and brush the rest with egg wash.

 

Then fold over and seal edges with the tines of a fork that has been dipped in flour.

Here are 30 nice large ravioli ready for the freezer.

 

 

 To bread the ravioli:

Whisk the 3 eggs and milk in a shallow bowl. Place the breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan into another shallow bowl and stir to combine. Dredge the ravioli in the egg mixture, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Let drain on a cooling rack over some paper towels.

Refreeze until ready to fry. 
 

Preheat a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Working in batches, carefully drop the frozen ravioli into the oil and fry until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, making sure that the oil comes back up to temperature in between batches. Place directly onto a cooling rack lined with aluminum foil to drain any excess oil. Serve hot on a plate sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan on top and warm tomato sauce on the side. 
 

(The fried ravioli can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool them completely, then cover and refrigerate. Before serving, place them on a baking sheet and rewarm in a preheated 375 degrees F oven just until they are heated through, about 7 minutes.)

  Happy crunching!  Num-Num!

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