Ravioli is one of those meals that we vegans just do not get the opportunity to enjoy that often.  Sure- there is the frozen package in the health food store that costs about $6.99 and can only feed 1.  There really aren’t any good options…

So I was challenged to make homemade Ravioli- turns out it is not hard at all!  It just takes some time to prep everything; so don’t start making this when you are already hungry (give yourself about an hour prep time or so).  This recipe is for the ravioli dough, you can fill it with anything you would like.  I filled half with tofu basil ricotta (recipe to follow soon) and the other half with fresh local spinach and Daiya mozzarella cheese.  You can add mushroom, asparagus, or just about any other vegetable (however any veggie that would require more than about 5 mins to cook should be prepared in advanced).  If you have a standing mixer, it will make things easy, but you can do everything by hand.  Instead of buying a $150+ pasta roller/ravioli maker, just use a rolling pin.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour (unbleached)
• 1 and 1/2 cups Semolina flour (available at your local health food store)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• large pinch of salt (coarse Kosher is best)
• About 1 cup warm water

Steps:

1. Mix the flours and salt together in a large bowl, or in the bowl of you mixer.
2. Add the olive oil and about 1/2 cup of the water.
3. Start mixing (use a dough hook on the lowest setting if you are using a machine).  You want the dough to be dry, but still form a solid mound.  Keep adding water in small amounts until all the flour is picked up and you have a nice stiff ball of dough.  It should be much stiffer than bread dough, without much give. 
4. Knead for about 10 minutes and then let sit for about 10-15 minutes, covered with a towel.
5. Prepare your fillings.
6. Move the dough to a clean dry counter top.  Divide in half and start kneading with a rolling pin (put the other half to the side and work with that after the first half is finished).  Apply pressure to roll the dough into a really thin sheet- as thin as you can make it without it tearing.
7. Use a pizza cutter to make long rectangular strips in the dough (about 1 1/2 -2 inches wide), then divide these further into strips about 5 inches long (you can get an idea of the size of the ravioli by folding the strip of dough in half- adjust the size as you desire).
8. Dip your finger in a cup of warm water and run it along the up side edges of the strip of dough.  Mentally divide the strip in half and put a SMALL amount of the filling in the center of one half.  If you put too much in, it will be hard to close.
9. Fold the dough in half, pinching the edges together- be sure to remove as much of the air as possible.  Also pinch along the crease to move the filling into the center of the square.
10. When you have filled that half of the dough drop the ravioli one by one into a large pot of (rolling) boiling water (with a large pinch of salt).  Boil for 5 minutes, then remove to cool.  Start rolling, cutting, and filling the second half while they are cooking.  Pour some tomato sauce or pesto over and dig in!

The recipe makes about 20-25 ravioli, depending on the size that you cut them.  If you have extra, you can freeze them to eat later, but why would you possibly have extra?

Enjoy!

-JD