Home made Spinach & Ricotta ravioli is always a treat and this cheats version means you can have it when the craving hits but without the effort of making pasta from scratch. Store bought wonton wrappers are filled with a tasty mix of fresh spinach, creamy ricotta and rich parmesan then drizzled with a luscious burnt butter, sage & walnut sauce. Simply mix, fill, seal and cook!
If your Italian you might want to look away about now…… As much I as enjoy preparing, making and eating fresh pasta, this cheats version using wonton wrappers is ‘hands down’ an absolute winner! Its delicious, easy and whats better – you can have it on the table in under 30 minutes from start to finish. Not bad for a homemade ‘cheats’ pasta dish that has all the flavour and taste of a homemade ravioli but with a silky smooth finish.
I used my own homemade ricotta for the filling (it’s so easy to make at home) but store bought fresh ricotta is fine – even the low fat one works. Just make sure you purchase it from the deli or in one of the plastic sieve cryovac baskets. Don’t use the smooth ricotta you buy in a tub – it just doesn’t work here well.
If your not a fan of butter sauces, a good quality store bought or homemade tomato pasta sauce works equally as well! In fact, I love them both and enjoy them equally the same. Just depends what mood Im in!
How to make the spinach & ricotta ravioli
The filling is really simple and takes less than 10 minutes to pull together. The most time your going to spend on this dish is filling the wrappers and sealing.
The ravioli can be made ahead of time and chilled or frozen until required. If cooking from frozen, do not defrost, simply cook from frozen adding a minute or two extra on the cooking time.
Step-by-step
What to serve with the spinach & ricotta ravioli
This dish is good enough to stand alone for an easy weeknight meal but sometimes it nice to have a little extra something on the table when your entertaining for family or friends. Here are my top suggestions to serve before, with and after the ravioli:
- I love to serve a simple tomato bruschetta as an entree before the pasta. It sets the mood and gets your taste buds ready for whats to come. You could also serve a garlic & herb bread or go really rustic and just serve some fresh crunchy bread with butter.
- I think a salad here is what works best with this meal. My Easy Rocket & Parmesan Salad is my favourite to serve with the ravioli as its also quick and easy plus simple enough to let the pasta shine. You could however serve something a little more fancy such as a caprese salad, bocconcini salad, fennel & orange salad or a Classic Italian style salad.
- Dessert or something a little sweet is always a nice way to finish off a good meal in my books. A classic tiramisu would be a favourite here but there is always other options such as cannoli, a good gelato or semifreddo, panna cotta.
❄️ Storage
FRIDGE:
Once prepared, cover the ravioli on the tray with plastic wrap and chill for up to 4 hours. Any longer than that, I would opt to freeze them instead as the wonton skins can start to soften meaning they may tear and open when cooked. We definitely do not want that!
Any leftovers, once cooked, store in a covered bowl or plate in an airtight container for up to 2 days and reheat gently before serving.
FREEZE:
The ravioli can be made ahead of time and frozen for later use. This is a great meal to have on hand in the freezer and have on the table in under 10 minutes. To freeze, lay on a baking tray (without letting them touch each other), cover and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the ravioli to a freezer-proof zip-lock bag, label, date and freeze for up to 3 months.
TO COOK FROM FROZEN:
If you have frozen the raviolis, DO NOT DEFROST. Simply cook direct from frozen in boiling water adding a 1-2 minutes extra time or until the float to the surface and are fully cooked through.
Cheat’s Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Frying pan or saucepan
Ingredients
RAVIOLI
- 1 bunch English spinach, leaves picked (See Notes – you can also use baby spinach)
- 250g fresh firm ricotta
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ½ teapsoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 250g packet Wonton wrappers (I used Supreme brand)
BURNT BUTTER SAUCE
- 125g butter, chopped
- ⅓ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 20-30 fresh sage leaves
Instructions
TO MAKE THE RAVIOLI
- Place spinach leaves into a colander and rinse well under cool running water. Drain lightly.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the spinach leaves and cook, stirring often, until wilted and bright green in colour. (No need to add any water as there should be enough water still on the leaves from washing them).
- Transfer spinach immediately to a bowl filled with ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled, drain and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Transfer to a chopping board then roughly chop.
- Place the spinach into a bowl. Add the ricotta, parmesan, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix until well combined.
- Lighlty dust a tray with semolina. Working with one wonton wrapper at a time, spoon a heaped teaspoon of filling mixture onto one side of the wrapper in an oblong shape. Using lightly wet fingers, run your finger around half of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper over and press well to seal, making sure to expel any air bubbles. Transfer to the tray and repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
TO COOK THE RAVIOLI
- Bring large saucepan of water to the boil then salt well.
- Add the ravioli (in batches if need be) and cook for around 3 minutes or until they float to the surface, then transfer to warm bowls with a slotted spoon.
BURNT BUTTER SAUCE
- Meanwhile, for the butter sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan or frying pan over medium high heat until it just starts to sizzle. Throw in the walnuts and sage leaves.
- Continue cooking, swirling the pan so it cooks evenly, until the sage is crisp and the butter is light golden brown in colour, about 5 minutes. We are looking for brown specks on the base of the pan (not black). As soon as you see brown specks, remove from heat immediately, and spoon over the ravioli. Garnish with parmesan and fresh herbs.
Notes
- COOKS NOTES:
Oven Temps: Oven temperatures are for conventional, if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C.
Measurements: We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml, 1 tablespoon = 20 ml and 1 cup = 250 ml.
Herbs: All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed.
Vegetables: All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified.
Eggs: We use extra-large size and eggs are 55-60 g each, unless specified. - SPINACH
If you can’t get English spinach or prefer to use baby spinach, that is not a problem. After picking the English spinach I got approximately 100g leaves from it. So just replace with 100g baby spinach or other spinach of your choice. - RICOTTA
Make sure you a fresh ricotta. I used ricotta I made at home. Please do not use the smooth ricotta that you buy in tubs in the supermarket fridge/cheese section. Its not really suitable for this recipe. You could also use the fresh ricotta that you buy in cryovac sieve style baskets – like from behind the deli counter but sometimes in a smaller. - WONTON WRAPPERS
I used Supreme wonton wrappers brand available from Coles supermarkets. They are a lovely yellow colour and resemble an egg pasta. You could also use the white skin dumpling or wonton wrappers or even gyoza wrappers to make these.
I choose to fold my wrappers in half to get more from them (only about 25 wrappers in each pack), but if you wish you can also place the filling on one wrapper then top with another wrapper and have BIG ravioli. The choice is yours. - BUTTER FOR THE SACUE
If you use regular salted butter for the sauce, you may not need to add salt. Taste before serving and adjust to your liking. If using unsalted butter, you will need to add some salt. - NUTS
If your not a fan of walnuts (and I know many aren’t) you may use any other nut you prefer or simply leave them out. I like adding nuts for some texture and crunch but they are not necessary. Other nuts I would choose from could be: blanched almonds, slivered almonds, pine nuts, hazel nuts, pecans or brazil nuts. Just be aware the smaller the nut i.e pine nut, add them later in the sauce so they do not burn. You only want a little colour on them.
You may also enjoy
Leave a Reply