Green Chile Ravioli

Do you ever have those new products that come along and  make you fall so deeply in love with them  you wonder how you ever survived without them? That is a bit how I feel about Wonton wrappers. They are pretty much a ready to go casing for anything delicious. You can make crab rangoons, taco cups (stay posted for those) annnnnnd home madeish ravioli. 

I have made ravioli that was completely from scratch and it wasn't enough of a success for me to do it more than once. This method is pretty stinkin' awesome! All you need is a tasty filling and some water to transform these wonton wrappers to a stuffed pasta delight. If you are not keen on green chile, you can just leave it out, it will still be tasty. 

Ingredients

Sauce

1 pound of Italian Sausage or ground beef

1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce

Ravioli

2 cups whole milk ricotta

1 small can of green chile

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Larger sized Wonton wrappers

 First, brown the sausage or ground beef until it is cooked through.

Add in the sauce and let it simmer while you make the ravioli. At this time, start boiling a vary large pot of water

 

Combine the Ricotta, salt and pepper and green chile in a small bowl. For years my mom and I would laugh at Giada De Laurentiis and her love of Ricotta Cheese. To us it was a weird grainy sort of substance. Definitely one of the lowly cheeses. That was until my mom found the secret: it has to be whole milk.  It really is so amazing and creamy. We are very sorry for our mocking, Giada.

Take about half of the Wonton wrappers out of the package. Seal up the rest or else they will get dry and crackled.

First of all, calm down. This is not a big deal. If the ravioli split open, you can just put them in the sauce and have delicious and creamy pasta. Now that you know the worst case scenario is still awesome, take one of the squares and put it on a plate or cutting board.

Dip your finger in water and coat the edge with it.

 

Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling on the inside of the square you made with the water. You may be tempted to put all the cheese in the world into one wrapper, but that would be foolish.

 

Wet the edges of another square with water as well. You can see the cute little bowl I use for the water to be easily on hand.

 

Then, place the second wrapper over the one with the filling trying to get out as much air as possible. Think of it as tucking a cheesy child to bed with a pasta blankie. 

 

 Press the edges of the pasta together with your fingers. I also pick up the squares and pinch the edges a bit to secure them.

Once you have finished the ravioli, gently place them into the boiling water. Let them cook for a minute, maybe two. Any more than that and they will give up their cheesy filling. Be super gentle with them!

 

Serve the ravioli with the simmered sauce and a nice side salad. This is a totally doable meal that will impress even the biggest doubters!