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Your favorite ravioli filling?

Husband and I are going to have a ravioli and gnocchi making session this weekend. I've got my heart set on three types of ravioli... one I know I want to do is a corn and sage filling and he wants to do a goat cheese and herb filling. So, I need one more filling... it seems like everything I think of is creamy and white, but I guess that's okay, because we will probably freeze a lot of them. Anyway, what is your favorite filling? I might add it to the list or sub for one of my ideas.

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  1. My favorite filling is butternyt squash. It has great texture and bright orange.

    Very good but make sure you use real nutmeg!

    1. spinach and roasted peppers
      pesto filling

      do you make gnocchi from scratch? if so, could you share a recipe.

      5 Replies
      1. re: HillJ

        I'm planning on it, but I haven't picked out a recipe yet!

        1. re: HillJ

          HillJ- if you would like the recipe for gnocchi that I ended up using, I would be happy to e-mail it to you... just post your e-mail address, if you want it!

          1. re: HillJ

            I do -- here ya go:

            3 lbs baking potatoes (russets?)
            2 cups all-purpose flour
            1 jumbo egg
            1 pinch salt
            pepper, seasonings, butter as desired

            Boil the whole potatoes until they’re quite soft (45 minutes?)
            While they’re still warm, peel the potatoes and mash them with a fork – you can use a damp cloth to help the potatoes retain their heat

            Set up a big pot of water heating and an equally big bowl of iced water

            Make a well in the center of the mashed potatoes and sprinkle them all over with flour, using up the flour in the process. Place egg and salt in the center of the well and using a fork, stir into the flour and potatoes, just like as if you were making pasta.

            Once the egg is all incorporated, along with any desired seasonings, bring the dough together and knead gently until a ball is formed and then another four minutes until the ball is dry to the touch.

            Roll the ball of dough into long thing tubes about the thickness if your index finger, and then cut them into 1-inch long pieces. Flick them off with a fork, using a finger to dimple the middle (the shape will help it keep the sauce).

            Drop the pieces into the boiling water until they float. Let them float for only a moment if they’re fresh, up to two minutes if they’ve been made a few hours ahead. As they are ready, pop them in the ice water to arrest the cooking process. Drain pieces after a few minutes.

            If gnocchi fall apart, it means you didn’t use enough flour. Too much flour results in hard gnocchi. Serve up with pasta sauce – don’t drown ‘em.

            When I made this recipe, I actually mixed the mashed potatoes and flour together before adding the egg and it seemed not to matter.

            If you’re making a small amount of gnocchi and you’re serving it right away, it’s ok to not use the ice water – I popped them straight into the sautee pan as they popped to the top to douse them with the sauce and then ladeled them out of the sauce at the end.

            If your dough is a little heavy, but it’s kindof too late to remove flour, make the gnocchi smaller – it will matter less that they’re heavy that way, because more of each piece will be really saturated with water.

            1. re: Adrienne

              Thanks Adrienne, I really appreciate the recipe!

            2. re: HillJ

              Hi HillJ. I know your post is kind of old, but was wondering if you could share your spinach and roasted peppers pesto filling. It sounds amazing!

            3. Mine, for winter at least, is the Beef Cheek Ravioli from the Babbo cookbook. Only actually did it with beef cheeks once, but have done it with brisket (as he also suggests) and it's almost as outstanding.

              4 Replies
              1. re: JoanN

                Is this the exact recipe Joan? http://www.rimag.com/recipes/recipe.a... Don't think I could get a black truffle though, but it sounds good!

                1. re: Katie Nell

                  What! Stewert can't find truffles?

                  1. re: yayadave

                    LOL! He'd eat it before we could get to it!

                  2. re: Katie Nell

                    Close, but not exact. The recipe in the book goes into quite a bit more detail. For instance, he says it will take about 10 minutes to brown the meat in the olive oil and warns against overcrowding. And he specifies 1/4 inch for the onion and celery dice. Of greater importance, there seem to be two typos in the online version you found. In the book he calls for one cup (2 sticks) of butter, not 2 cups. And in the Toscani recipe it's 7 tablespoons, not ounces, of evoo. Other than that, yes, it's the recipe.

                    I can't afford black truffles, even if I could get them. Never used them in the recipe. I just put it in the category of, If you don't know what you're missing . . . .

                2. Brandade makes a nice filling.

                  Peas, minced lamb sausage and mint is nice.

                  I've filled ravioli with saag paneer (Indian spinach and cheese curry) with tasty results.

                  Finely diced melon, prosciutto and basil.

                  Smashed white beans with garlic and herbs.

                  Roasted sweet potato and bleu cheese....

                  1. Pumpkin-filled raviolli. Top with browned butter with sage and toasted walnuts.