Food Lane: Pan-fried Ravioli

Well... this latest cooking adventure came about because of my love for ravioli. We were out at a restaurant and I saw that they had a pan-fried ravioli on the menu and I just knew I had to try it! It was delicious, and I knew that the once in a great while of going out to a fancy restaurant (high school student budget!) for this ravioli was not going to be enough. So I decided to give it a try and make it myself.

I used multiple recipes for my pan-fried ravioli... so here they are:

I made two batches of ravioli dough...
   For the first I used this recipe.
   For the second I used this recipe.

I used the filling from this recipe with some changes.
   * I used 1 C of shredded mozzarella instead of a 1/2 C of mozzarella and a 1/2 C provolone.
   * Also add salt and pepper to the filling.

I found this recipe for my marinara sauce. I also made a couple changes to this recipe.
   * I only used 1 onion, just because of personal preference.
   * I had small carrots on hand so I used a couple of handfuls of those instead of two large carrots.
   * I added 1/2 C of whipping cream to the sauce as well.

To pan-fry the ravioli you will also need:
   1 egg beaten, for coating ravioli.
   1 can panko, to coat ravioli
   1 or 2 C of olive oil for frying

Okay... let's get started.

For the first dough recipe...
Measure out your flour and make a well in it.

In a small bowl mix eggs, water, oil, and salt.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour and combine until a dough forms... as the recipe says make sure not to force the dough to take all the flour just incorporate as much as it needs.

Now, knead the dough for about ten minutes.

When my first dough was made I started my sauce...

Start by adding your olive oil to the pan and turning the heat on to medium high.

Then get out the onion and garlic and chop them up.

(The ugly onion cry face... those onions get me every time!)

Add the garlic and onions to the pan and cook them while you chop your other veggies.

Now it's time to chop the carrots and celery. After a lot of time chopping the garlic and onions and the appearance of the ugly cry, a wise woman said to me "Why don't you get the food processor out?" What a thought! (Thanks mom!) So the carrots and celery were chopped by a wonderful little gadget.

Add the celery and carrots to the pan along with some salt and pepper and cook until tender.

While my vegetables were cooking I made the second batch of dough

Put flour and salt in mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Add in your eggs one at a time and then drizzle in your olive oil.

Knead the dough for about ten minutes, brush with olive oil, cover in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

At this time check you vegetables...

If they are tender add in the tomatoes and bay leaves, turn the heat to low and leave to cook for an hour.

Now your sauce is cooking and your dough is resting, it is time to make the filling.

Combine ricotta, cream cheese, mozzarella, egg, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Mix those ingredients together.

The filling is done... now take your first batch of dough and roll it out.

Cut your dough...

... fill with filling...

... egg wash around edge...

... and last step, close edge with a fork.

Now repeat this with your dough until you use it all. At this time you should also put a pot of water on to boil.

Your ravioli are now shaped, so it is time to cook them. Drop about 8-10 ravioli in the pot (or as many as you can fit in your pot comfortably), and cook for about 6-8 minutes.

When the ravioli is done cooking take it out and put it on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Once all your ravioli are cooked you can start to coat them for your pan-frying.

First start by adding your oil to the pan to let it heat up. You want just enough oil in your pan to cover one side of your ravioli as it cooks (you might need to start again with new oil at some point during the frying). You can tell that your oil is ready when you put a couple of drops of water in to the oil and you hear sizzling.

Take the ravioli, and you are going to first dip it in egg...

... then into the panko.

Then transfer it to your pan, you are going to have to cook the ravioli in batches of about 5 or 6 at a time.

Cook the ravioli until browned on one side, then flip and brown the other side. When the frying process is done put the cooked ravioli on cookie sheet while you fry the other batches.