Vegan Spinach Ravioli

I tend to dive into things headfirst. For my very first blog post, I most definitely was not about to change that! I have never, ever made pasta from scratch. Therefore, it only makes sense that I would make ravioli my first attempt. I figured I’d skip over spaghetti, fettuccine, even lasagna and just head straight for the most difficult thing I could think of. And you know what? It was so good! Seriously delicious. And it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be! So here it is, my very first blog post and recipe, Vegan Spinach Ravioli.

Tofu “Ricotta” and Spinach Filling

1 block extra firm tofu, drained

¼ cup vegan parmesan cheese *

2 Tbsp. vegan “butter” (I used Earth Balance) *

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. salt

6 cups fresh baby spinach (if desired)

*If you want a lower fat filling you can leave out the parmesan and/or butter. Just make sure that you press the tofu for 4 or more hours first if you choose to leave the parmesan out or your filling might be watery.

Place all ingredients except spinach in a food processor

 

Pulse until all ingredients are blended well. At this point you can use the filling as is if you prefer to leave out the spinach.

If you the prefer a spinach filling, add the spinach to the other ingredients in the food processor and pulse until the spinach is incorporated into the other ingredients and the filling is smooth. It may take a little while to get all the spinach blended in. My food processor was very stubborn and kept swirling the leaves around the top instead of blending them. It worked better after I used a spatula to push the leaves down to the bottom a few times.

 

The filling is ready! You can use it right away or it can be stored in the refrigerator overnight. Beware, it tastes really good and you may have to resist eating it before you get it into the ravioli! I tried a little bit and then a little more and then had to resist the urge to grab some crackers and use it as a dip. I think I will sometime in the future.

 

Ravioli

Having never made pasta before, I spent a few hours looking at different recipes. In the end I combined a few recipes and this is what I ended up with. I was really surprised how easy it was and how great the dough turned out. It was really fun to handle, like play dough.

2 ¾ cup Durum wheat semolina flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

¾ -1 cup water

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. olive oil

Heat 4 quarts water and a dash of salt in a large pot so the water will be boiling by the time you are ready to cook the ravioli.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Fantastically awesome pasta makers then put the dry ingredients on a cutting board and mix the oil and water in there, but I wasn’t feeling fantastically awesome in my newness to pasta making so I mixed it in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and use your hands to mix in the oil and ¾ cup water. The dough should form a ball. If the dough is too crumbly, add more water a little bit at a time until it is soft and binds together. I had to use a whole cup.

After a ball is formed, knead it on a lightly floured board for 10 minutes (Yes, I do believe it does count as your upper body workout for the day.) The dough should be very soft and malleable. Place it back in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes.

 

After the dough has rested (I needed a rest as well after 10 minutes of kneading…), place it on a lightly floured surface and divide into two pieces. Shape each piece into a circle, and then roll out in a rectangular shape, about 1/8” thick. I rolled out the first piece onto a large cutting board so I could set it aside while rolling out the second piece.

Using a spoon or small scoop, place about 2 Tbsp. of the spinach filling on the dough about 1/4” apart. I was able to make 24 ravioli. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, wet the dough between the mounds of filling slightly with water.

 

Lay the second piece of dough gently over the filling and gently press the dough down between the mounds of filling. Cut between the filling to make square ravioli. A pizza wheel works great for this. If you need to trim the edges of the dough off you can re-roll it out to make more ravioli, just be careful not to add too much flour. Gently pinch the edges of each ravioli together.

 

Make sure that the water is boiling gently, right above a simmer. If it is boiling too rapidly, it will make the ravioli fall apart. Very gently slide 7 ravioli into the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes (5 minutes made mine perfectly al dente. If you prefer them to be more done, leave them in for another minute or two). Remove the ravioli with a slotted spoon and place them on a plate or shallow bowl where they will not sit in too much water. Continue cooking the ravioli in batches of 7 or less until they are all cooked. Top with your favorite marinara sauce and enjoy!

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Tags: pasta, ravioli, ricotta, spinach, tofu, vegan, vegan ravioli, vegan ricotta