Yum. Looking at this picture is making my mouth water for dinner all over again!  Let me warn you though, this recipe is not for the faint of heart, or I guess I should say the faint of Taste buds:). The Gorgonzola Cheese flavor is powerful, but mixed with the anjou pears, shallots, and  Ricotta cheese and drizzled with the Lemon Cream Butter Sauce you may as well cancel your anniversary reservation at that expensive five star restaurant because your looking at the less expensive, better tasting, semi-homemade version of it right here baby!

The beauty of these Raviolis are that they are made with wonton wrappers so you don’t have to mess with making your own dough for the noodles! How easy is that? Also, You can cut them into a round shape of perfection using a cookie cutter as demonstrated here at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. (a.k.a the inspiration for this meal).  I thought if you wanted to get really creative you could even use a heart shaped cookie cutter for valentines day or another romantic meal, but tonight we stuck with our jagged circle shaped cookie cutter.  My almost 3 year old even helped me put the raviolis together, which just goes to show that anyone can make these. These beauties take a little more time than your usual throw together evening meal (at least for me with the help of my almost 1 year-old and my almost 3 year- old), so make sure you aren’t pressed for time,  but they are not hard, and definitely worth it if awesomeness is your goal.

Pear and Gorgonzola Ravioli drizzled with Lemon Cream Butter Sauce

Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture

*Note: this recipe makes 16 Ravioli, which was more than enough for my small family, but if your feeding more you might need to adapt the measurements according to your needs.

Ingredients:

For the Ravioli and filling:

2 anjou pears, finely chopped

1 small shallot

4 ounces gorgonzola, crumbles

1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used part-skim and it tasted fine, but you can use the good stuff if you don’t want to skimp.)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper.

32 wonton wrappers

Sauce:

2 Cloves Garlic, finely minced ( I used the minced jar kind- I love that stuff)

1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Directions

1. Filling- in a medium sauce pan  on medieum heat add the pears and shallots and cook until the pears start to break down. The pears should give enough moisture so no oil or butter is needed. Cook until they are soft, but not “mush”. You still want a little texture to it.  Remove from heat.

2. Thoroughly mix together the gorgonzola, ricotta, and pepper. Add the pear mixture. Mix well. You can let it chill for a few minutes before filling the wontons. I only kept it in the fridge for like 5 minutes.

3. Make the ravioli–take a wonton wrapper  and place it on a cutting board. Wet the edges of the wrapper just using water and your finger (the water helps the wontons to stick together so they don’t come apart while cooking). Add a teaspoon of filling to the wanton. Grab another wonton wrapper and place it on top and press to make sure the edges are sealed. Try and get all the air out around the center filling. Then take your cookie cutter, and cut your ravioli shape out. Once done, move to a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper until you finish putting together the rest of the raviolis.

4. In a large pot of boiling water cook the ravioli at a medium boil. NOT too high of heat or the ravioli will bread up. Cook 1-2 minutes (not long at all) or until the ravioli start to float to the top of the pot (when in doubt, take it out). Just at 6 or 7 ravioli at a time as to not overcrowd.  Do NOT over boil or they will be soggy. Once they float remove with a slotted spoon or spatula and place on a cookie sheet until cooled.

5. Now you can pan saute them and serve them, or store them in a zip lock bag for a few days until your ready to serve them!

6. Saute- in a medium non-stick pan add a teaspoon (or more) of butter and heat to medium.  Add the Ravioli (6 or 7 at a time)  and lightly pan sear for about a minute on each side. You want them to lightly brown and crisp up.  Remove the ravioli to a serving dish and cover while you cook the rest.

7. Sauce– in a small skillet melt the butter over medium heat and add the Garlic.  Sir in the cream and increase the heat to medium high simmering until the cream is reduced to about 1/2 cup (about 4-5 minutes). Stiring often so as to not burn it.  Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Divide the sauce evenly between ravioli and if desired garnish with Lemon Zest.

Recipe Source: adapted from Mels Kitchen Cafe, and Sarasitacook at food.com.

27 Apr This entry was published on April 27, 2012 at 4:36 am. It’s filed under Main Dish and tagged Butter, Gorgonzola, Italian, Lemon, Lemon Sauce, Pear, Ravioli. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.