Yesterday I had a very strong craving for cheese ravioli. When thinking about how to make them interesting, my thoughts turned to spring (yes, it's technically summer, but the weather has been springy lately), and the classic combo of peas and mint. To dress these spring ravs, I chose to toss them with bacon and more peas. I love peas and prosciutto or bacon with pasta dishes. It's another classic. The only classic pea partner I'm missing in this dish is carrots!
Minty Pea Ravioli
2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed, or fresh peas (divided)
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
20 or so fresh mint leaves
1 lemon
1 egg
15 oz. container whole-milk ricotta
1 package wonton wrappers
3 or 4 strips thick-cut bacon, diced
1 shallot, sliced into thin half-moons
dash of dry white wine
olive oil
salt & pepper
Pulse 2 cloves of garlic, a big handful of parsley, the zest from the lemon (reserve lemon for juice later) and about 15 mint leaves in a food processor. Add 1.5 cups of the peas and blend until well-combined, but not completely smooth. Stir pea mixture together with the ricotta and egg. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Form ravioli by placing about a Tablespoon of the filling in the center of a wonton wrapper. Wet the wonton with water around the filling, place another wonton wrapper on top, gently pushing down around the filling. Use a ravioli cutter, cookie cutter or a glass to cut the ravioli into a circle, sealing the filling in. Repeat until you are out of wrappers. I had extra filling. You can either get more wrappers and make more raviolis, or put the rest of the filling in a small baking dish, bake until bubbly and serve as a spread.
Cook the bacon in a skillet until just crispy. Add the shallot and 2 more cloves of garlic that have been minced. add a splash of white wine and the lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Meanwhile, have water boiling for the ravioli. Cook ravioli in batches of 5 or 6 for about 1 minute (until they float). Remove ravioli from water with a slotted spoon and toss with the bacon mixture. Once the desired number of ravioli are in the skillet, add the rest of the peas and some chopped parsley and mint. Toss gently to heat everything through and serve.
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