INGREDIENTS
Ravioli Filling
- 1 x 400g / 14 oz firm tofu, medium-press
- 50g / ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar)
- 50g / 1 cup dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes (in a packet)
- (or double up the sun-dried tomatoes in oil if you don’t have these)
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pasta
- 260g / 2 cups plain, all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 110ml / ½ cup water
- Pinch salt
Pesto
- 75g / 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 60g / ¼ cup cashew nuts
- 110ml / ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 35g / 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- 4 cloves garlic
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Chop up or snip the dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and place in a bowl. Pour a little boiling water over them, just enough to cover. In a separate bowl, crumble in your pressed tofu with your fingertips, making sure it is well crumbled. Drain the excess oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in oil, pat them dry and chop up into small pieces. Add the nutritional yeast, ¼ tsp salt and grind in the black pepper. Mix well together with your hands so you get a smooth consistency and leave covered in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
To make the pasta, sieve the flour into a large bowl and add the salt. Form a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the water and oil. Stir until well mixed and then kneed with your hands until you get a smooth, pastry consistency. Add more water or flour to get the right consistency, the dough should hold together in a ball without sticking to your hands.
Roll the pasta into a sausage shape and cut 1/3 off. This will be the bottom layer. Roll out this bottom layer until it is very thin, about 1 mm thick. Place a small ball of the ricotta mixture, about 4 cm / 1″ in diameter, equally spaced onto the rolled out pasta.
Roll out the other 2/3 of the pasta, equally as thin and lay it loosely over the bottom sheet. Round the pastry carefully over the ricotta balls using your hands and then cut out around each mound, leaving ½ cm / 0.2″ around the outside. If you happen to have a square ravioli cutter this would be the perfect opportunity to use it. We actually do have one which makes the process easier and the ravioli ends up in uniform shapes. It isn’t necessary though.
Next, make the pesto by combining all the ingredients into your mixer and blend to combine. Stop to scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula and continue until you have achieved a smooth consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Put a large saucepan of water on to boil. When the water is simmering away, add the ravioli parcels one at a time and cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and allow to drain.
Cover the parcels with the pesto and serve piping hot with chopped cherry tomatoes on the side, an extra drizzle of pesto on the plate and garnish with a basil leaf. Voila!
