We are having a ravioli party this weekend and was wondering if there were any alternatives for the meat filling. In the past I have taken approximatedly 50% pork butt and 50% beef(some sort of roast). We braise the meat and fully cook it with the other ingredients(spinach, onions, garlic, sometimes fennel)before putting it through the grinder. it’s been over the top some years and others times just ok. Your thoughts?
I recently did an osso bucco ravioli that went over pretty well.
I cooked the veal shanks as normal with osso buco and cooled, then shred the meat and used some of the liquid and stuffed the raviolis using the rest of the juice as…sauce.
Osso buco ravioli sounds amazing!
As for other fillings, I think you could do most anything. Along with various aromatics that you would blend into the filling, these main combos come to mind:
short-rib/caramelized onion
pumpkin/mascarpone
chicken/porcini mushrooms
ricotta/spinach
crab/goat cheese
whole egg yolk/ricotta
sausage/fennel
Try the egg yolk & ricotta with some Swiss chard sometime. Yum!
Haven’t done pumpkin, but have used butternut squash.
Had some crab ravioli last night: it was awesome.
Have also had mushy green peas ravioli that was awesome.
Pumpkin is also tasty.
I’ve done chicken, spinach and pine nuts. I even put in some sun-dried tomatoes and raisins one time. Maybe olives? The possibilities are endless. Think potsticker filling with some sort of soy or ginger or wasabi or peanut or green/red Thai curry or hoisin concoction.
Wow, you guy wine geeks are amazing. Love the foodie ideas and personal experience posts. Next up for is is the pasta attachment for the KA mixer.
I made braised short rib ravioli back in March
Next time I’m going to add some of the reduce braise to the filling so it is not so dry.
Mel, you suck. Go to the photography forums or something.
Do you guys ramp up the seasoning for the filling? My attempts at ravioli were so bland, even with spicy fillings, that I have not tried in years. Both the short ribs & osso bucco (word completion on my browser suggests ossify buffoon) sound fabulous. I’ll try one with some gelantanized sauce as a sort of ravioli / xiao lin bao.
Moreso a reduction/concentration of flavor than ramp up the seasonings. Ramping up the seasonings would work well, too, I’d think.
One of my favorite tricks that I made up is to roast til golden brown and delicious some eggplant. Mix it 1/2 with ricotta, add any meat you want. Cuts down on the cheese and tastes incredible. Especially good with crab.