rice paper ravioli? yes. wrap your heads around it people, it happened. and it was good. like, really good. believe it or not, rice paper is a great substitute for all things pasta. these are not the fresh, homemade raviolis i grew up eating from the Bronx, but they are a really great alternative. after doing some research on how to use rice paper as pasta i took to testing it out. i learned some valuable lessons that day that resulted in me getting a good bearing on how to treat these delicate little raviolis.
*just to note, if you are using wonton wrapper or egg roll wrappers you may want to research how you should treat the paper, it may be different from the directions i give below.
i put my raviolis over a salad, but they work in any capacity. you could totally use them in any authentic italian recipe, or use a pesto sauce, you could even go the sweet route and fill them with a nutella-like substance. the filling i chose was broccoli- ricotta puree. here i used tofutti ricotta cheese, which is soy based (you can easily substitute this with regular dairy ricotta). because i don’t eat cheese, i left out reggiano cheese – which adds a certain depth of flavor to the filling – so i replaced it with a healthy amount of spices and salt. this was a fun little project, i hope you try them out some day!
:: makes 24 raviolis ::
prepare a large bowl with water (you will use this to dip the rice paper in)
prepare a platter or large plate with a coating of olive oil
for the ravioli //
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8-10 ounces of broccoli (a small head of broccoli) cut into florets
1/2 cup ricotta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt or more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
pepper to taste
12 pieces of rice paper
for the salad //
3 ounces mixed baby greens
a handful broccoli sprouts (or micro greens)
1 radish sliced thin
2 small beets, grated
1 tablespoon toasted pignoli nuts
dressing //
2 tablespoons basil oil
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
salt to taste
directions //
prepare a medium saucepan with water that reaches 3/4 of the way up to the top and olive oil (the raviolis tend to stick to one another)
in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. add the broccoli, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 more tablespoon of olive oil, cover and cook over a low heat until tender, about 10-15 minutes. let cool. coarsely puree the broccoli in a food processor; transfer to bowl. stir in the ricotta, salt, red pepper, oregano, and pepper
prepare a work surface with water for dipping rice paper, and a platter coated with oil
dip the rice paper in the water, rotating it until it is completely wet, set it down on a large cutting board. using a small spoon, dollop 4 mounds of ricotta mixture onto the paper. take your second piece of rice paper, and dip in the water, wetting it completely. lay the top piece over the bottom piece – the paper takes about a minute to really soften – let it sit until soft. take a sharp knife or pizza cutter and cut into 4 equal pieces. here is the somewhat tricky part: you don’t want a lot of air getting caught when you seal the ravioli, so make sure there is a hole to push the air out of (this sounds much more complicated than it actually is). next. use your fingers to press the pieces of rice paper together, creating a seal. take a round cookie cutter and cut out your ravioli. transfer to the oiled platter. repeat with remaining papers. i had extra filling leftover; i froze it for another time.
bring the water in your saucepan to a boil
2 at a time place the raviolis in the water, turn the heat to medium low – you want the water to boil but not so hard that it breaks the ravioli. after 1 1/2 – 2 minutes use a slotted spoon to remove the raviolis, place them back on the oiled platter until they are all cooked
repeat with remaining ravioli
let them cool while you assemble your salad. combine all salad ingredients, toss in the raviolis, dress with the basil oil dressing (you can also totally substitute this dressing with something else) and enjoy!
Speechless! Never thought about this. I wish I would live around the corner. It looks so yummy!
they were really good, better than i had hoped for!
Genius idea – never occurred to me to try this. I can already see myself filling the rice paper with some sort of Asian-inspired ingredients and serving it as a starter in some broth!
what a great idea! sounds yummy.
definitely going have to give this a try, sounds delicious.
thanks, b. you should, i think you would really like them!
What a neat idea! They photograph beautifully as well. 🙂
this looks so interesting and delicious! so great to see a different salad! cant wait to try this out.
definitely worth a try. it was a great alternative to my regular routine salads!
Great idea, I would be nervous the rice papers would disintegrate in the pan!
they are quite delicate, i was surprised how sturdy they are in boiling water though.
This is just my favourite thing on the internet today. Thank you for sharing.
haha, thank you!
This is such an awesome idea! Looks incredible as do all of your other recipes! Thank you for the follow on my blog, all your pictures are great!
thank you! i was admiring your blog earlier. can’t wait to click around some more.
hope i get to try these sometime!! they look ‘pop-in-the-mouth’ awesome!!
of course you will!
How creative! I’m so intrigued by these ravioli and that salad is simply gorgeous. What a lovely recipe!
thank you. i was intrigued as well. they’re a great little filler on top of a salad! thanks for coming by and checking dollyandoatmeal out 🙂
I have so much rice paper at home and didn’t know what to do with it!! I will absolutely be making these this week, thanks for the inspiration (and love your blog)!
that’s great, i’m glad you’ll be able to put your rice paper to good use! thank you for stopping by 🙂
This looks delish!
they were super tasty!
This is such a clever idea! Bookmarking to try soon 🙂
thanks! you should totally give it a shot 🙂
I love this! I’ve made my share of wonton wrapper ravioli, but these actually look even easier. I can’t wait to try them out.
once you get on a roll they are extremely easy to put to together. just be careful when you’re boiling them, i imagine they’re more delicate than wonton wrappers. thanks for coming by 🙂
You are 1 clever & genius woman! Rice paper raviloi! Waw! I love your fabulous & cool pics too! 🙂 A must make!
thank you so much!
Love it! I actually have some rice paper in my pantry right now that I was going to make spring rolls out of soon… but I may just have to do this instead (or both)! And thanks for the visit and the follow – your stuff is great! 🙂