There are certain kitchen tasks that, no matter how simple, always reduce my ego and perception of my own mental capacity to the size of a child. For example, basting a turkey…. It’s quite simple, really. You just dip the tip into some of the juice, squeeze the little rubber-thingy, and distribute the juice over the turkey. Simple, right? But, somehow, I always end up choking on the heat of the oven, bump my head tellingly against the oven door, can’t quite get the juice into the baster (at which point it makes that hideous slurp-slurp noise), jab at the turkey senselessly, causing it to lose far more moisture than I ever intended to put in, and usually give myself a nasty burn.

 

I also will not cut a cake, for reasons that are too inane and embarrassing to expound upon here.

 

However, the bright side is that there are also those tasks which are ludicrously easy, but make you feel incredibly accomplished and just a little sad that your now-obvious talents have gone unnoticed for so long. This was exactly my experience when making these Asian Veggie Raviolis, as I was certain that making raviolis (nearly) from scratch was a task best left to professionals, but I dove into the task with the back-up plan of eating the filling with a spoon and looking at the pictures from the cookbook in the back of my mind.

 

Needless to say, the raviolis could not have been easier to make, made quite an impressive presentation, and were a very inexpensive dish. These raviolis would make a spectacular dish to serve to guest (particularly if you have vegetarians in your midst), but is easy and quick enough to make on a week-night (as long as you get home at a reasonable hour).

 

One other thing before the recipe… it’s ok to make the filling and the sauce in advance, and then just construct and cook the raviolis just before serving, as old-ish raviolis can get a bit dingy.

 

Enjoy!

 

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Asian Veggie Raviolis in Spicy Coconut Broth, Serves 4

Adapted from Caprial’s Bistro-Style Cuisine

 

Prep Time: 50 Minutes

Cooling Time: 1 Hour

Total Time: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

 

Ingredients:

 

For the Filling:

 

1 Tbls. Ginger, peeled and rough chopped

2 Cloves Garlic

½ Cup Scallions, rough chopped

1 Carrot, rough chopped

6 Snow Peas

1 Red Bell Pepper, de-seeded and rough-chopped

½ Cup Shiitake Mushrooms, rough-chopped

2 Tsp. Vegetable Oil

1 Tsp. Sesame Oil

1 Tsp. Chile Paste

2 Tbls. Soy Sauce

 

48 Wonton Wrappers

 

For the Broth:

 

2 Tsp. Vegetable Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, chopped

2 Tsp. Ginger, peeled and chopped

¾ Cup Stock, either chicken or vegetable

1 ½ Cup Reduced Fat Coconut Milk*

2 Tsp. Honey

1 Tbls. Five-Spice Powder

1 Tsp. Chili Paste

 

Preparation:

 

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat while you prepare the filling.

 

Put the garlic, ginger, and all of the vegetables for the filling into the bowl of a food processor and pulse into very finely minced and well-blended.

 

 

Turn the veggie mush out into the saute pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sesame oil, chili sauce, and soy sauce and stir well. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 1 hour.

 

Just before the hour is up, put a pot of water on the stove top to boil over medium-high heat and start in on making the broth.

 

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat until hot. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the stock, coconut milk, and honey and bring to a boil. Add the five-spice powder and chili paste, and turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

 

While you’re waiting for the stock to boil and simmer, you can get on making the raviolis. Lay your wonton wrappers out on a flat surface. Drop just under a rounded teaspoon onto the middle of them, brush the sides with water using a pastry brush, and place another wrapper on top, pinching down the sides. Be careful to not over-fill them.

 

Once prepared, cook your raviolis in the GENTLY boiling water (it should be over medium-high heat) for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain in a colander.

 

Plate the raviolis, ladle some of the spicy coconut broth over them, and garnish with dried cilantro or parsley. Enjoy!

 

*I almost never go for the reduced-fat version of items, but coconut milk is extremely heavy, and I prefer the reduced-fat version.