Fried ravioli was an interesting experience. On one hand it’s fried noodles, so it tastes like Chinese food. At the same time it’s cheese filled, and tastes oddly like mozzarella sticks. The buttery flavor that the ravioli absorbs makes this a fun finger food for parties, or a playful dinner. Serve these as they are for a fun unique flavor, or serve them with sauce for a buttery mozzarella stick experience. These are very hot, and will be very hot even after you let them cool for 5 minutes.
In a large sided dutch oven, heat 1/2 inch of oil over medium heat. Heat till oil is shimmering.
Add ravioli to hot oil. Cook on first side for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until cheese begins to leak out.
Strain on a paper towel lines plate, wait 5 minutes before serving. Optional serve with pasta sauce.
Ravioli with red sauce is a pretty common meal. In fact, it is probably the most common way to eat ravioli. While it’s true I’ve seen recipes for casseroles or slow cooker meals with these cheese stuffed pasta, I have found nothing more iconic than ravioli with pasta sauce. Yesterday I posted this recipe for ravioli. I made these that night with red sauce and a couple nights later made what my post will be for tomorrow, fried ravioli. I found my biggest flaws with making fresh homemade ravioli with red sauce to be excess water from boiling and quantity of sauce. For that reason, I adjusted to recipe to include a time to strain, so your plate doesn’t have a puddle on it like mine did. I also adjusted the recipe to remind you to limit your red sauce. These are homemade ravioli; you shouldn’t be hiding them under a mountain of sauce. You also want the full flavor of these homemade gems. You put the effort into making them, make sure everyone can see and taste they are homemade.
Bring large sauce pan of water to a boil. Add 2-3 large pinches of salt and stir. In a smaller sauce pan, bring spaghetti sauce to a light simmer.
Add ravioli to pot of water. Boil ravioli for 3-5 minutes until the ravioli float. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon, set on paper towel to strain for 5 minutes.
To sauce, add 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 Tbsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp onion salt.
Plate your ravioli, top with 1 tsp of sauce per ravioli, less is more. Top with parmasean or parsley.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 2 Tbsp oil, and a pinch of salt. Use a dough hook, and beat over low speed till it comes together.
Once the dough has come together and fully formed, knead dough on floured counter for a minute, then wrap in saran and let sit for 15 minutes.
While dough is resting, mix together 1/4 cup cottage cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella for your filling. In another container, add one egg and beat till fully mixed.
Flour a large work surface. Begin rolling out pasta dough, rotating the dough by a quarter turn every couple passes. Roll out the dough as thin as you can by hand, less than 1/8th inch if possible. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch squares using a sharp knife.
Begin placing about 1 Tbsp of cheese filling onto every other square. Brush egg wash on the outer edges of the squares without filling.
Place the egg wash square on top of a cheese square and pinch the edges closed. Dust lightly with flour and place on baking sheet. Repeat this step until all ravioli are formed.
At this point, you can begin boil them immediately, 3-5 minutes until they float. You can refrigerate them well sealled for up to 2-3 days, or place them into a freezer bag and keep them frozen for 1-2 months.
This tortellini dish is filling. The chives and lemon bring some unique tang to this dish that makes it an adventure to eat. The sauce I used is Aldis brand Alfredo. It’s an OK sauce, but it is very thick and doesn’t have much personality but heavy. To make the sauce better, I thinned the sauce with milk, added garlic powder, and added chives and lemon juice at the end. The tortellini I got was Weis brand and it was a 12 oz bag. This meal makes 4 hearty sized portions.
In a medium sauce pan, add 1 jar of alfredo sauce, and one jar of milk. Heat till simmering over medium high heat.
Once simmering, add 1 package of frozen tortellini. Add 1 Tbsp garlic powder and stir. Cook for 10 minutes or until tortellini is cooked. Remove from heat, add diced chives and 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Stir and serve.
Baked ziti is a big dish that can feed a big family, or feed a small family for several days. Josh and I have been eating this ziti for almost a week, and it’s still just as good. For 2 adults, it was 8 meals and very tasty. Similarly to my lasagna recipe, I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. I just like the availability, and the mildness of the flavor comparatively. I also made this dish early in the day, put it into the fridge, then baked it again, and it came out just as it would the first time, but if you want to put it in the fridge before baking, add 15 minutes to your cook time, and if you choose to make this then freeze it, just double the bake time when you bake it from frozen.
Bake ziti noodles until al dente. Meanwhile, brown 1 lb of ground beef.
Heat oven to 400 F.
Open a jar of spaghetti sauce and season to taste. Place 4 Tbsp of sauce at the bottom of a 2 qt baking dish, and evenly distribute. Add the remainder of sauce to your meat mixture and bring to a simmer.
Spread out 1/2 the cooked ziti noodles into a layer on top of the sauce. In a side bowl, mix together 1.5 cup cottage cheese/ricotta, 4 oz shredded mozzarella, and 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning.
Place 1/3 of the meat sauce on top of your noodle layer. Place cheese mixture in a layer on top of your cheese layer. Top with the remainder of your noodles, then top with remainder sauce and an additional 4 oz shredded mozzarella.
Bake for 30 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before eating.
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