Homemade ravioli is a lot easier to make than you might think. There's no special equipment required and it doesn't take heaps of time either. It's so worth it for a special meal. The lentil mushroom filling is a great recipe all on its own and you can use it for all sorts of other recipes as well as a standalone vegan pâté.
1tbspmustardwholegrain, English or Dijon all work well
salt and pepperto taste
Instructions
Lentil Mushroom Filling
In a large saucepan, fry the onions, carrot and celery in the olive oil over a medium low heat for ten minutes until everything is soft. In essence you're making a soffritto.
Add the garlic and mushrooms, bump the heat up a little and fry for a further five minutes, stirring occasionally.
2 cloves garlic, 250 g chestnut mushrooms
Add the lentils, tomato paste, oregano, tamari and mustard. Give everything a good stir and clamp the lid on the pan. Cook for two to three minutes or until everything is properly heated through.
Turn the heat off, remove the lid to allow any excess liquid to evaporate.
Pulse the mixture roughly with a stick blender. You want to break some of it up, but leave some of it as is for texture.
Give everything a good stir and add some black pepper and a pinch or two of sea salt if you think it needs it.
salt and pepper
Ravioli
Divide the pasta dough into two pieces. Roll out each piece with a rolling pin (or pasta roller if you have one) as thinly as you can. The thinner you've rolled your dough, the more ravioli you will have.
pasta dough
Cut the dough into 10 cm strips, then cut each strip into 6 cm rectangles. Gather any offcuts together and roll them out again. You should end up with at least 28 pieces of flat dough that measure 6 x 10 cm. If you have more, so much the better.
Place a heaped teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each piece.
Fold the short side over the filling to form a square. Use the prongs of a fork to press the edges firmly together. It's important the filling is well sealed or it will leak out when it's cooking.
When you're ready to cook the ravioli, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Gently lower a few ravioli into the water, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Eight to ten is probably about right.
Let them simmer in the water for 4-6 minutes. Cooking time will vary according to how thick your pasta dough is and how stuffed they are. You'll know they're ready though as they'll rise to the top when they're done. Remove them carefully with a slotted spoon. Keep warm on an oiled tray or in a pan with your chosen sauce whilst you cook the remaining ravioli.
Notes
Serves four as a main meal and nine or ten as a starter.Use any kind of lentils you like: green, brown or even black, it doesn’t really matter. But make sure they’re whole lentils, not split ones. If cooking your own, you'll need 100g (3 ½ oz).You can freeze any ravioli you don't need. Just don't cook them first.See the post for detailed step-by-step instructions as well as various tips and serving suggestions.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.