This shortcut for making homemade ravioli is so amazing. I lifted the idea for this Egg Yolk Gyoza Ravioli recipe from Cooking Light and then made it my own. I made a mix of gyoza egg yolk ravioli with a light ricotta seasoned with lemon, and spinach and ricotta gyoza ravioli.
The Cooking Light article only featured egg yolk ravioli, but I thought that was a lot of egg yolk for one meal since each raviolo (yup, that's the singular) contains an entire egg yolk.
Mixing and rolling out the dough for ravioli is the most time consuming part of the process, and by using store-bought gyoza skins you will save yourself a lot of time. (I find gyoza skins in the freezer section at the grocery store next to the frozen dumplings).
The gyoza skins are thinner, but they get the job done and have a consistency similar to pasta, and they really let the fillings take center stage.
The wonderful thing about this recipe is that the egg yolk ravioli are cooked until the egg yolks are warm, but still runny. When you cut into these ravioli the warm thick egg yolk mixes with the browned butter creating the most delightful sauce. Even though not all of the ravioli have egg yolk (we determined that would be overkill) they all gain richness from the egg yolk.
If you are also a Cooking Light reader, I want to let you know that I experimented with the process of making these ravioli. Cooking Light says to roll out the gyoza to make them larger, but I didn't think that worked. Instead, I skipped that step. I did find that quickly rinsing the gyoza in warm water makes them stickier and easier to work with.
Ingredients
- 1 Egg White beaten
- 20 round Gyoza Skins
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Freshly Chopped Basil
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- For the Egg Yolk Ravioli:
- 4 unbroken Egg Yolks you want to crack them one by one
- ½ cup Part-Skim Ricotta
- 2 teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- ¼ teaspoon Lemon Zest
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- a dash of Black Pepper
- For the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli:
- ½ cup Frozen Chopped Spinach thawed and water squeezed out
- 1 cup Part-Skim Ricotta
- ¼ cup Pecorino or Parmesan
- ½ teaspoon Lemon Zest
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- a dash of Black Pepper
Instructions
- Start by mixing up the fillings. In one bowl stir ½ cup ricotta, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon lemon zest, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper together. In another bowl, mix up ½ cup spinach, 1 cup ricotta, ¼ cup pecorino or parmesan, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper.
- Now you want to create a station to make the ravioli. Fill a small bowl with warm water. Grab a container to store your egg whites in, and a small bowl to place the egg yolks in. You will have extra egg whites, I suggest saving them for an omelette. You can add any broken egg yolks in too since you can only use whole unbroken egg yolks for the ravioli.
- Dip the gyoza skins in the warm water, this helps to make them sticky. You can do this individually as you are making the ravioli. For the egg yolk ravioli, place a teaspoon of the seasoned ricotta in the center of a gyoza skin, and then use a spoon (or your finger) to create a space in the cheese to hold the egg yolk. (The gif in this post provides the visual). Crack an egg, save the white for something else, and place the egg yolk on the gyoza skin. I found it was easiest to place the egg yolk in a small bowl and then use the bowl to place the yolk in the gyoza. Then spread a bit of the egg white around the edges of the gyoza, and top with a second gyoza skin. Use your fingers to seal the gyoza skins together.
- Making the spinach and ricotta ravioli is easier. Just dip the gyoza in the water, place a tablespoon of the spinach and ricotta filling in the center, spread egg white around the edges, top with a second gyoza skin and use your fingers to seal the gyoza skins together.
- Continue making ravioli, using up all of your ingredients.
- Cook the ravioli in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to carefully drop the ravioli into the water, and remove them from the water. Be careful not to crowd the pot.
- Use a small skillet or saucepan to melt the butter, and keep it on low heat until it browns. Top the cooked ravioli topped with the browned butter, remaining lemon zest, and chopped basil. Serve immediately.
Inspired by Cooking Light
