Dinner Club - Fried Ravioli

Fried pasta with cheese and a yummy marinara sauce...what could be better?!  Well, sharing it with great friends, of course!

For our Dinner club meeting in April, Kathy was our host and choose to learn how to make ravioli...as you will remember from our previous blogs, we are learning a cooking method for each dinner club meeting.  So, Kathy made the pasta ahead of time...since it has to refrigerate, and used it to make an appetizer of fried ravioli with marinara sauce. 

Now anything fried is good, but fried ravioli is one of my favorites, and Kathy's did NOT disappoint!  It was such a scrumptious concoction, that I almost filled up on it before getting to the dinner.


To make ravioli from scratch is quite involved, but it's worth the work, plus you can make extra of the dough to freeze and use again later the the other fillings that will be in another post later this week...I love dinners like that!

Here is the recipe for the ravioli dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water

Mound the flour and salt together on a work surface and form a well.  Beat the teaspoon of olive oil, 2 eggs and water in a bowl.  Pour half the egg mixture into the well.  Begin mixing the egg with the flour with one hand; use your other hand to keep the flour mound steady.  Add the remaining egg mixture and knead to form a dough.

Knead the dough until smooth, 8 to 10 minutes; add more flour if the dough is too sticky.  Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Ravioli filling recipe:

• 1 - 8 oz container ricotta cheese
• 1 - 4 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup provolone cheese, shredded
• 1 egg

Combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese and egg.  Mix well and set filling aside while the pasta is rolled out after hour of refrigeration.

Recipe how to fry the ravioli:

• oil for frying
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Roll out the pasta to the ravioli thickness (Kathy's pasta roller was set for a 2...I think) and cut into rectangles - approximately 1 1/2" by 2 1/2 - 3".  Make an egg wash of 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water and brush over half of the rectangle.  Place a scoop of filling onto the ravioli (make sure to  not overfill) and fold the pasta over and press to seal.  Use a fork to go around the ravioli and crimp the pasta shut.  Continue to do this until you have made all your ravioli.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, and heat to 325 degrees.  In a bowl, whisk together egg and milk.  In another bowl, combine panko, plain bread crumbs, basil, oregano and kosher salt.  Dip each ravioli into the egg/milk wash and then in bread crumbs.  Then repeat the process to double coat the ravioli.

Once the oil reaches 325 degrees, fry the ravioli in batches until golden brown (about 3 minutes).  Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel lined plate.  Allow to cool several minutes.  Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve (or place in a 300 degree oven to keep warm until your guests show up).

Marina recipe:

Best Marinara Sauce Yet - from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 (14.5 oz) - cans stewed tomatoes

1 - 6 oz can tomato paste

4 tabelspoons chopped fresh parsley

3 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1 Tbl brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 Tbl olive oil

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup white wine

1 Tbl butter

Directions:

In a food processor, place stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, miced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Blend until smooth.

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes.  Add the blended tomato sauce, brown sugar, butter and white wine.  Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.