I realize that I’ve been more neglectful than usual toward my poor blog. But if I’m being honest, the past ~6 months have really thrown me for a loop. I haven’t felt inspired to write here at all, and I have been crazy busy with all of life’s wonderful ups and downs. Sometimes, blog neglect just happens.
Anyway, luckily I am starting to feel a bit better mentally {although I am fighting off a nasty cold right now, so I don’t feel the best physically!}, and I’m feeling a bit more inspired to write about my foodie adventures these days.
All that to say, I feel that now is as good of a time as any to talk about homemade toasted raviolis, aka toasted ravs, aka t-ravs. {Sorry ’boutcha New Years diet. #yolo}
Back in June 2016, my [now former] roommate and I were nosing around in a used bookstore on South Grand Avenue in St. Louis. Our two year roommate-relationship [roomieship? I don’t know, haha] was coming to a close, and we were both trying to decide what our final Roommate Baking Endeavor {RBE} project should be. We’ve always had a lot of fun devising a baking/cooking project and then working on creating something together. So we knew that our final RBE as roommates had to be epic.
As we were pacing around in the basement of this bookstore, we both were hit with inspiration: It should be St. Louis-themed! Except neither one of us love gooey butter cake [gasp!], so we were then trying to come up with something else.
Then it hit me: homemade toasted raviolis!
In case you weren’t aware, toasted raviolis are a total staple in St. Louis cuisine. And since we enjoyed two years in the city as roomies together, they couldn’t be more perfect for our final RBE. It was also the perfect opportunity for us to try out Dani’s KitchenAid mixer pasta rolling attachment. Homemade t-ravs are a bit of ahem… well, a labor of love. But if you have some spare time, and aren’t afraid of frying oil, then you should try these out. It was a fun afternoon project, although there was definitely a learning curve with making these bad boys.
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Homemade Toasted Raviolis.
Ingredients:
For the Ravioli Dough:
– 1 cup semolina flour
– 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
– Pinch kosher salt
– 2 large eggs
– 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
For the Filling:
– 1 pound shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese
– 1/2 pound ground beef, cooked and drained of excess oil
– 1 tablespoon minced garlic
– 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
– Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
– 4 eggs, 1 lightly beaten for egg wash
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
– 1/8 cup grated Parmesan
– Canola oil, for frying
+ Instructions {I didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel with the instructions here. So please keep in mind that this is copied from the Food Network’s website. Just giving credit where it’s due!}:
1. For the dough: Sift the flours and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Whisk together the eggs, oil, and 2 tablespoons water in a separate bowl. Pour the flour mixture onto a clean dry work surface and form a small well in the center. Pour half of the egg mixture into the well and, using a fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. Once absorbed, incorporate the remaining egg mixture and knead by hand until all of the liquid is absorbed, 5 to 6 minutes, flouring your work surface as needed to ensure the dough doesn’t stick. Roll the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. For the filling: Mix together all of the ingredients until fully incorporated in a bowl. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, or up to 1 hour.
3. To assemble: Divide the rested dough into 2 equal-size pieces and roll out on a floured work surface to a thickness of 1/8-inch. On 1 dough sheet, distribute tablespoon-sized portions of the filling, at least 2 inches apart. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg wash. Carefully lay the second sheet of dough on top and press the edges shut with your fingertips. Use a round 1 1/2-inch ravioli cutter to portion out ravioli pieces, pinching the edges shut to ensure no air is trapped inside.
4. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F.
5. Whisk the remaining 3 eggs and cream in a shallow bowl. Place the breadcrumbs and Parmesan into another shallow bowl and stir to combine. Dredge the ravioli in the egg mixture, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Working in batches, carefully drop the ravioli into the saucepan 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.
6. Serve with warm tomato sauce and freshly grated Parmesan.
+ Feel free to experiment with your fillings; all cheese would be tasty, and I’m betting that Italian sausage would be delicious!
+ Toasted raviolis taste the best on the day they’re made. But if you want to reheat leftovers, I’d advise reheating them in your oven on a lower temperature to avoid sogginess.
// Recipe Sources:
+ Ravioli dough, filling, and coating recipe from The Food Network.
+ Homemade marinara sauce recipe from The NY Times.
