It’s been a while since I made ravioli. As broad beans (or fava beans as they are known in the US) have been in season here for a while now, I’ve decided that a batch of broad bean vegan ravioli would be a fitting tribute to the broad bean season. If they aren’t available where you live, I’m pretty sure you could use frozen green peas instead.
To preserve beautifully vibrant green colour of the filling, make sure you ‘shock’ freshly cooked beans in a bowl of icy water. Duncan walked in on me as I was smashing ice cubes out into a bowl of water. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked. ‘I’m ‘shocking’ broad beans’ I replied. He then leaned over the pot of cooking broad beans and whispered ‘all of the other vegetables hate you, especially the runner beans! They think you’re lazy…’
This is the kind of whimsical humour Duncan treats me to DAILY! Lucky girl, me 😉 As I might have mentioned, he used to be a stand-up comedian when we lived in London and he clearly needs an outlet 🙂 .
For vegan AND gluten-free ravioli dough, see THIS RECIPE.
- 300 g / 10.5 oz 00 flour or all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp / 150 ml reduced aquafaba, (see NOTES)
FILLING
- 550 g / 3 cups podded beans (400 g / 2 cups shelled)
- 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 10 fresh mint (or basil) leaves
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- about ¼ cup fine breadcrumbs
- zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- hot chilli powder, to taste
- salt & pepper, to taste
FOR SERVING (optional)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- lemon zest
- chilli flakes
- basil pesto
- Boil a medium pot of water on the stove. Put podded and washed beans into boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes is up, test one to make sure the inside is cooked before draining.
- While your beans are cooking, put a few ice-cubes into a bowl of cold water. As soon as the beans are ready, drain them first and then chuck them into the bowl with icy water. This step isn’t necessary, but it will ensure that the beans keep their vibrant colour.
- Shell the beans (ie remove the outer shell) by making a tiny incision at the top of the bean and pressing the inside out.
- Place shelled beans (you should get about 400 g or 2 cups), garlic, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, mint leaves and nutritional yeast into a food processor. Do not add any water as you want the filling to be as dry as possible.
- Taste and season with salt, pepper, more lemon juice and chilli powder (if using) to taste. Add enough breadcrumbs to thicken the mixture (about ¼ cup).
DOUGH
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour and turmeric. Add aquafaba and mix it into the flour. The dough will need a bit of water to come together (we used 2 tbsp / 30 ml), but be careful not to add too much as this will give you a dough that is too wet. Knead the dough for at least 5 mins and then set aside for 60 minutes under a damp kitchen towel so that the dough doesn’t dry up.
- Once the dough has had a chance to rest, take a portion of the dough (1/3 for example) and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out as thin as you can (2-3 mm), the thinner the dough the tastier the ravioli. You can obviously use a pasta machine to roll out your dough if you have one.
- Use a 5 cm / 2″ cookie cutter or an upside down glass to cut out circles of the dough. Place about a teaspoon of filling on half of the cut out circles. Place another circle on top and drape it around the filling, taking care not to trap any air pockets inside. Seal the two circles of dough with your fingers. If you want them to look like mine, go around each raviolo and crimp the sealed edges with the end of a fork. Put the finished dumplings on a lightly floured surface and cover them with a kitchen towel while making the rest so that they don’t dry out. Continue in the same way until you have used up all the dough and / or all the filling.
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Once the water boils, place 5-6 ravioli (it’s important not to overcrowd the pot) in the boiling water and cook, on a rolling boil, for about 5 minutes. After the time is up, fish cooked ravioli out with a slotted spoon, shaking excess water off gently, and place them on a plate. Cook all the remaining ravioli in this way.
- To serve, sauté 2 cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil. Baste the ravioli in the garlic oil gently. Serve with a sprinkling of salt, lemon zest and some more chilli if you wish.