Ravioli Romance

get stuffed this holiday

Most Valentine’s Day traditions are dull, flattened versions of romance that amount to little more than a money grab. Disposable sentiment, thoughtless roses, and a box of chocolates that realistically is just the result slave and child labor. Fighting for a table at a crowded restaurant can deflate the evening as quickly as a cheap champagne headache. We can do better. WE ALL DESERVE BETTER. So this year stay home and cook something special. Not only is it much more meaningful, because you actually spend time making the person you love something, it’ll also save you money and cut down on stress. No hunting for parking, no overpriced cocktails, no bullshit. Just good fucking food and maybe some good post-dinner lovin. Plus, you’ll look so impressive when you casually cook a meal like our homemade artichoke and hazelnut raviolis.  Cooking is sexy. USE IT. 

Flying solo this year? You deserve a nice meal too damnit. Wine and dine yourself while you appreciate all your skills in the kitchen. You don’t have to share shit or deal with any awkward moments. So who’s really living the dream? 

This recipe has a lot of steps, but they can be easily broken down over a couple days. The pasta dough is very forgiving and doesn’t require anything more than a rolling pin to make. Or a wine bottle if you’re careful. The dough and filling can be made up to a day before and stored in the fridge overnight. Or you can make the ravioli all the way through then stash them in the freezer until you get a craving. Just freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet so they don’t all stick together then once they’re frozen, put them in a plastic bag or another airtight container. They’ll last for up to 3 months like that. On the big day, just make the sauce and throw the frozen ravioli right into the boiling water like you just made them fresh. No one will know. I paired them with a mushroom leek sauce but if you want to save yourself a little time, they’re great with a store-bought marinara too.

Artichoke and Hazelnut Ravioli with a Mushroom Leek Sauce

Makes enough pasta for 4 people, about 160

All Purpose Pasta Dough

3 cups 00 flour or all purpose

½ teaspoon ground turmeric, optional since it’s just for color

1 ½ cups room temperature water

Artichoke and Hazelnut Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup chopped sweet onion

¼ cup toasted hazelnuts or walnuts*

12 ounces soft, silken tofu, the shelf stable kind, not the ones packed in water in the cold case

One 15 ounce can artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained, and rinsed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

½ cup nutritional yeast

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

Mushroom Leek Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 cups chopped cremini mushrooms

2 tablespoons nondairy butter

4 cloves of minced garlic

½ cup dry white wine**

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups vegetable broth

Salt and pepper, if you have white pepper use it instead

Toppings: minced chives, ground hazelnuts, pepper

*if there’s a nut allergy in your house, just leave this out or sub in toasted sunflower seeds if those are tolerated.

**not into wine? Just replace it with broth. Easy.

First, let’s make the dough. On a large cutting board, measure out the flour into a large pile and whisk the turmeric in, if using. Now make a well in the center of the flour and pour in 1 ¼ cup of the water. Slowly, from the inside of the well out, start mixing together the flour and water until a shaggy dough starts forming. If it still looks dry, add the remaining water a tablespoon at a time until it starts coming together. Using a bench scraper, scrap off whatever is sticking to the board and knead the dough for 5 minutes until a tight dough forms. The dough ball should have a slightly dimpled, almost cellulitey texture to it. Put this on a plate and cover it with a bowl so that it can rest for 10 minutes without drying out.

When the pasta dough is done resting it should be softer and a lot more pliable. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes until it appears smoother than before with a little stretch when you try to pull a piece apart in your fingertips. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, roll them each into a tight ball, and wrap them in plastic. Store them in the fridge like this for at least an hour and up to 24 hours before dinner time.

Now let’s make the filling. Warm up a saute pan over a medium high heat and drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Throw in the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté this around until the onion starts to brown, about 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them cool. Grab your food processor and throw in the hazelnuts. Run it until they are a fine powder, with no big chunks. Then add the tofu, artichoke hearts, parsley, nutritional yeast, garlic, sherry vinegar, and salt. Add the browned onions to the mix and let that run until it looks smooth. Taste and add more of whatever you think it needs.

Next, let’s assemble the ravioli. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of the dough as thin as you can. Aim for a large 10 inch by 10 inch square. Now you have to choose how large to make your ravioli. The ones in our picture are 1 inch squares that were filled then folded over to make little triangles. If you’re new to the process, make your squares up to 2 inches so that you don’t have to struggle with tiny pieces of dough. Once you pick your size, use a knife or a pastry cutter and slice the dough into mostly even squares. Cover all but one row with plastic wrap or a damp towel to keep the pasta from drying out.

Dump the premade filling into a pastry bag or a plastic bag with a corner cut off and pipe a small dollop into the center of each square. Resist the urge to put a lot of filling in, that will only make closing them up harder. Fold the dough over, opposite corner to opposite corner, and pinch the tip of the triangle closed. Take your two pinky fingers and press the sides down closest to the filling then edges trying to make sure there isn’t a whole pocket of air in there. If the pasta starts feeling dry you can put a little water on the edges of the pasta square with your fingertip to help it stay together. Place the completed ravioli in a single layer on a lightly floured tray and keep going, uncovering one row at a time as you work. Repeat the process with the other ball of dough. If you are cooking them right away just leave them like this, uncovered, until you’re done making the sauce. If you're waiting, just cover the whole cookie sheet in plastic wrap or foil and freeze it until it’s time to make dinner.

When you’re ready to eat, put a pot of water on to boil the ravioli and grab a large sauté pan for the sauce. Add the olive oil to the sauté pan over a medium high heat. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt and sauté until a few start to look golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, stem and all, and sauté it around for a minute. Add the mushrooms and let them cook until they start to release some of their liquid, about 4 minutes. Add the butter and garlic sauté for another minute. The pan should smell so good by now. Remove the rosemary sprigs from the pan and set them aside for later. Pour in the wine and use it to scrape off any bits of burnt tastiness from the pan. Whisk in the flour, making sure there aren’t any clumps then pour in the veggie broth. Stir in some salt and pepper and let the whole thing simmer until the flour starts to thicken up the sauce, about 3-5 minutes. Once it’s at your desired thickness, turn off the heat and taste. Add more salt or whatever you think it needs. Let this sit, covered, while you cook the ravioli.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, add the ravioli no more than 40 at a time to the pot, depending on their size. Let them boil for about 5 minutes until they are all floating at the top of the pot. Taste one and make sure it doesn’t taste like raw flour. When they’re done, scoop them out of the pot with a slotted spoon and toss the right into the pan of sauce. Keep going until they’re all cooked and covered in sauce. Pull the leaves off the cooked rosemary sprigs and toss them into the saucepan with the ravioli and stir.

Serve them warm topped with minced chives, pepper, and some more ground up hazelnuts if you’ve got them. After all that work, make sure someone else handles the dishes, ok?

Thanks for joining us here in The Broiler Room. Next week we’re starting a brand new series all about baked dinners. We’ve got casseroles, sheet pan meals, and all kinds of good shit coming your way soon. Have a dish you’re dying to see us cook? Drop it in the comments! 👇

Michelle (and Matt)