Homemade Ravioli with Fresh Herbed Ricotta Cheese

I discovered wonton skins a couple of months ago. I of course have been watching chefs on food television using them to make home made raviolis for a while now. I have always thought, “what a great idea- and so easy”, but for whatever reason, I have never done it myself. I made dumplings at home for the first time- a huge hit with Sia- she loved them. Actually, I was packing lunch for camp last week and she saw the store bought dumplings being cooked and asked me if I could make the homemade ones- what better compliment can I get!!

After the dumpling success I was very excited to make homemade raviolis. A few days ago I took the leftover wonton skins out of the freezer and went to the store to buy fresh ricotta cheese. I love being able to buy the fresh variety- the already packaged ones are absolutely fine- but you can’t beat the fresh kind.

Around the same time, I was watching ‘Live with Regis and Kelly‘ and Regis was talking about eating a ravioli dish with sage. Well, I thought- “I have sage in my herb garden”. That is how this recipe came about. I mixed a few different fresh herbs in the ricotta mixture including the sage. I added an egg to bind the mixture and lots of parmigiano reggiano cheese- you really can’t go wrong with any of these ingredients. I served the raviolis in a light tomato sauce- will be talking about it this Wednesday in ‘The Local‘.

The raviolis were absolutely delicious!- I am not exaggerating- the filling was soft and creamy; the wonton skins were perfect used as pasta. For the first time, we ran out of the main entree- everyone gobbled it up and wanted more. Sia gave it a thumbs up!! The adults washed the raviolis down with a yummy merlot- it was a great dinner…

• 32 wonton skins
• Small bowl of water to seal the wonton skins
• A medium cookie sheet
• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese, excess water strained
• ½ cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons, fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 teaspoons, fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon, fresh sage, chopped

In a medium bowl, add the ricotta cheese, parmigiano reggiano, salt, egg, thyme, rosemary and sage. Mix well making sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Keep aside.

To Assemble the Raviolis

On a clean cutting board, place one wonton skin and place one teaspoon of ricotta filling in the middle of the wonton skin. Dip an index finger in water and wet all four corners. Place the second wonton skin (making sure the edges are wet as well) on top of the filled wonton skin and seal the edges pressing the two wonton skins together between fingers. Place on the cookie sheet and sprinkle the all-purpose flour all over to make sure the raviolis don’t stick to each other. Repeat the process- the filling will make 16 raviolis. Place all of them in the cookies sheet and cover with a damp towel and keep aside.

In a big saucepan, bring water to a roaring boil. Add salt and add the raviolis, making sure not to crowd the pan. Cook for a minute or till the raviolis rise to the top. Take out of the pan and add to the marinara sauce.

Light Marinara Sauce

• 3 cups strained tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup fresh basil, torn

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic. Saute for a minute on medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook for about 20 minutes on medium low heat. Adjust seasonings. Add the basil.
Add the raviolis in the pan as they cook.