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The Preamble
*Word of warning. I use “raviola” here because it’s the plural for ravioli (not raviolis). This is a snobby, snooty piece of information I stumbled upon while reading Frank Bruni’s new book, “Born Round,” of which I read 30 pages*
Eating dumplings has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I have a freezer full of frozen ones (shout out to Trader Joes), and I spend a gross amount of time chasing the dumpling truck around the city (http://rickshawdumplings.com). As an Italian (pronounced "Eye-Tie"), one would think that this naturally lends itself to a love of raviola, yet I’ve always avoided these dubious pasta-pockets. Firstly, ordering raviola at a restaurant is always a roll of the dice; how many times have you ordered a “$17 Lobster Ravioli” dish only to be presented with 4 flimsy pasta discs, stuffed with a pitiful amount of lobster meat, and spackled by a couple tablespoons of a creamy seafood sauce; a veiled attempt to infuse an insufficient dish with a burst of seafood flavor? When I order dumplings from China King, I know exactly what I’m getting: six, mushy, pork-filled, warm, chewy dough-balls that I’m going to inhale right before I eat my General Tso’s.
Secondly, whenever my family would make raviola, it was always in the form of a supplement to the main dishes. The family recipe doesn’t include meat (the ravs are filled with a ricotta mixture), so I always thought of them as unnecessary stomach filler; a gastro hurdle to the meatballs, braciole, and sausage lasagna.
Finally, I don’t really know (and still don’t, mind you), how to make them. There’s something slightly frightening about dropping a ravioli into a hot pot of water. I imagine the filling gooping out of the side or, even worse, the middle filling up with water, turning the dish into a wet, soppy, mess.
In spite of all this, the prospect of melted goat cheese entangled with sweet sausage bits was too enticing to let my general aversion to the raviola persist.
The Store
I stopped first at the local Korean market, where I purchased a bunch of basil, one onion, a can of San Marzano tomatoes, a lemon, and a package of 50 wonton wrappers. Next, I walked over to the supermarket for the goat cheese and Italian sausage. When I got home, I realized I had forgotten the cream, but luckily my girlfriend's roommate had some 2% milk handy. The Korean market has great, fresh veggies, but the supermarket on my corner is pretty bland (Keyfood sucks. Ya, I said it!). As a result, the goat cheese and sausage were both cheap and pre-made, but I figured that the cooking process would disguise the imperfections. Plus, I had my unparalleled cooking ability to fall back on (phew!).
The Prep
I began by peeling the casing off the sausages. I would later learn that this was totally unnecessary, as most stores sell crumbled sausage meat (without the casing), but I chalked it up to a 15 minute, greasy learning experience…and an opportunity to swig a couple glasses of wine. I used a deep pot to cook the sausage meat. Notably, the sausage excretes so much fat that cooking oil or butter is unnecessary at this point (unless you have excellent cholesterol...in that case, fry up a lb of bacon, too, ya health nut! Such a healthy, guy, you!). The meat cooks for about 10 minutes, so I used that time to prepare the goat cheese filling. I'm such a multi-tasker.
Lemon zest can take over a dish, especially one that uses goat cheese as a base. Zesting about half the lemon was sufficient for this dish, and I probably could have used a little more if I was a big lemon fan (I tried to find a picture of a fan made out of lemons...oh well). I added the milk and cheese, mixed it up, tore up the basil leaves into small pieces, then folded it all together. When the sausage was done, I used a slotted spoon to scoop it all out, and I mixed in about half of that as well (approx. 2 sausages). I turned down the heat under the pot, and added some thinly sliced onion (now is an appropriate time to do a Homer Simpson "sausage grease and onions...gargggglll"). As the onion cooked, I spread out half the wonton wrappers and put a pot of water on to boil.
Here comes the tricky part. At this point, I haven’t really eaten since lunch (approximately 7 hours ago). With that kind of hunger, it’s really tough to put the “right” amount of filling onto each half. Anything more than the size of a quarter, and you’re liable to burst a ravioli during the cooking…anything less than a nickel, and your ravioli looks more like a noodle napkin. I found that about half of a spoonful was just right. Try putting a one together before going the whole way through and then realizing you've put too much filling in. Also, try eating as much of the extra filling as possible whenever your girlfriend leaves the room.
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| From Raviola Goat Cheese Sausage |
After laying all the filling, I checked the onions, they were starting to get clear, so I added the remaining half of the sausage and the san marzano tomatoes. The sauce looked a little thick, so my girlfriend added some chicken stock.
Next, I beat a couple eggs, and made circles around the filling with my index finger. I placed another wrapper on top, and used the open end of a kitchen glass to cut the raviola into circles. A fork proved to be a useful tool for additional crimping, but you have to be careful not to push too hard and pierce the center bulb.
The Cooking
This took about 20 minutes. Once the water began to boil, I turned down the heat and dropped in about 8 raviola at a time. Using the slotted spoon, I took them out after about 5 minutes and placed onto a nearby plate.
At the same time, I would periodically stir the sauce to make sure it didn’t stick to the pot (“Hey Michael, make sure you stir the sauce so it don’t stick!!” – Ray Liotta in Goodfellas). When all the ravs were cooked, I placed about four on a plate and drizzled the sauce on top.
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The Eating
Good lord, I are a ton of these guys. My girlfriend ate a modest three, while I took down no less than 15. Afterwards, I could be found sitting in front of the television with a v-neck undershirt on that seemed to have shrunk four sizes.
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The Problems
Cooking the raviola in batches resulted in cold raviola. I could have probably cooked them all at once.
The sauce was OK, but I think there are better options to compliment this dish. Perhaps some kind of a buttery sauce instead. I’m welcome to suggestions.
I had the raviola piled on top of one another, and they ended up sticking together. There might have been a better way to stack them, maybe with flour.
The dumpling wrappers were easy to use, but I think pasta would have tasted better. If you can, I would suggest making the filling the night before, and making your own pasta the day of.
The Ingredients
4 Sweet Italian sausages
12 ounces of goat cheese
1 lemon
1/2 cup of cream
12 basil leaves
50 wonton wrappers
1 onion
1 sixteen oz can of san marzano tomatoes
Overall: Took 1.5 hours, but it was pretty delicious. If I had the foresight, I would have made the filling the night before. 7/10
