Oh Em Gee Ricotta Mushroom Leek Ravioli with Pesto Sauce

One of the best foods in the world is the dumpling. This is because the definition of a dumpling can include pretty much any kind of dish that is made of a piece of dough, stuffed with whatever kind of filling, then cooked. Ravioli are like the Italian version of dumplings, and for that I love them. It's hard not to be satisfied after consuming a plate full of them.

Before I discuss the recipe, I want to give a shout-out to Tofutti brand for having a long product shelf-life. I bought my container of Tofutti Better Than Ricotta Cheese in about March, and lost it in the back of my fridge. I reunited with it again today, fearing the mouldiest. I was more than pleasantly surprised to find it still had another month and a half 'til expiry and in perfect condition for eating. YES!!

So, I have posted about making ravioli before and the good news is, that with the dough hook-thing on my food processor, I am only getting speedier and speedier at making these little things, this dish taking less than 3 hours from sauce to filling to dough to plate. If I hadn't paused to wash some dishes, it probably would have been quicker, so don't ever feel daunted by pasta-making. It's not always as time-consuming as it seems.


Pesto Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of basil (about 4 cups, loosely packed)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• pinch of salt

Add the basil and pine nuts to the food processor and blend until paste-like. Add the lemon juice, garlic and salt and blend again. While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. DONE! I usually would have a taste and add anything else that needs adding, being mindful that the flavours will deepen and emulsify after a night in the fridge.

As with my last ravioli, I used Vegan Dad's dough recipe, replacing 1.5 tbsp of all-purpose flour with besan (chickpea flour) to give colour and bind.

Follow the dough recipe and roll out in a pasta roller or, if you've got muscles and patience, with a rolling pin.


Filling Ingredients:

• 1 tub Tofutti Ricotta (I subtracted about 5 tbsp for later use)
• 10 small Swiss Brown mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1.5 tbsp Nuttelex
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper

Finely dice the leek and add to a large frypan with the melted butter in it. Mince the garlic and add to the leek. Make sure to keep the heat on low so as not to burn anything. Slice the mushrooms as thinly as possible (I use a cheap mandolin from the Tokuya on Bourke St). Make sure to give the leek/garlic mixture a few stirs whilst slicing the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the frypan and grind some salt and pepper over it.

Melt down the veggies a bit more, then add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Cook until you have cooked most of the liquid out of the mixture. Let cool for a couple of minutes (it's okay if it is still warm) then add to the ricotta. Stir until all the ingredients are combined and let rest in the fridge while you finish the dough.

 

I won't go on and on about how to compile the ravioli, as I have described the process on this blog before. I will, however, comment on the Tofutti Ricotta being delicious. I had feared it would be yucky, based on a few reviews I have read. Rather, it worked wonderfully - the texture and moisture content was perfect, and the taste went well with my ingredients. Worth the high price if you can't be bothered making tofu ricotta.

Eazy Cheezy Potatoes Au Gratin

This dish is a nice change from our usual weekday side dish of mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes. My partner isn't the biggest fan of the "yeasty stuff" taste (nutritional yeast) and I have to say, it does have a distinctive taste that I wouldn't want to eat every day, but every few weeks I'm happy to yeast it up!

The sauce, adapted from the Cheezy Sauce out of Veganomicon, turned out super-creamy and paired with the potatoes perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes, sliced about 1/2 cm thick (I used desiree potatoes)
• 2 cups liquid vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pinches of fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• a few grinds of fresh black pepper
• pinch of tumeric
• 3/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp Nuttelex

First you need to parboil the potato slices for about seven minutes. Drain all the excess water and set them aside in a strainer.

Next, heat up the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan or large frypan. While it cooks on low-medium heat, whisk the flour into the vegetable broth until all large lumps are gone. Once the garlic is lightly (lightly!) browned, add the thyme, salt and pepper and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the stock/flour mixture, stir, then add the turmeric and nutritional yeast. Stir for about three minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the lemon juice, Nuttelex and mustard. Stir stir stir until everything is combined. Cook for another couple of minutes, stirring so the sauce doesn't form a skin on top. Remove from the heat.

Make one layer of potatoes at the bottom of a glass or ceramic baking dish. 

Pour half the sauce onto the potatoes and add another layer of potato slices. Pour the rest of your sauce on top and spread around so the potato slices are evenly coated. If you have a few leftover slices, arrange them in a fancy pattern on the top and scrape out the rest of the sauce from the pan with a spatula to cover them.

Bake, covered with aluminium foil, for about 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, to your desired brownness. Sprinkle some paprika on top to make it look extra-fancy and serve hot!

Springtime!

After a long hibernation, I am back. Inspired by springtime, I have lots planned for the Vegan Month of Food (and beyond!). Posts coming very very soon...

Big Banana Soy Latte

About six or seven years ago, while stopping in Coffs Harbour on a holiday, I had the pleasure of trying a banana soy latte from the gift shop at the Big Banana. The Big Banana is a wonderfully ridiculous tourist attraction and the only place I have ever seen a banana soy latte on the menu!

And with the still-recent flooding in Queensland - where most of Australia's bananas are grown - banana prices are only just starting to drop to an affordable level. I remember a few months ago seeing them for around $18 a kilo at a supermarket. Though the cost is getting better every month, bananas are still a bit of a status symbol, so for this weekend's Vegan Mofo Iron Chef challenge, I used banana extract and my awesome found-by-the-side-of-the-road Italian espresso machine to make a banana soy latte!

My machine hard at work:

For the banana flavour, you can either add a drop or two of banana extract to the milk before steaming or you can get a bottle of that super-sweet syrup that cafes use and use a tiny bit of that in the espresso!

And, yum! Just like Coffs Harbour used to make: