What an elegant and tasty meal this was! It is a bit of trouble to make, but well worth it.

Asparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauce

Yield: 12 raviolis

Ingredients:

for the raviolis:

  • 1 cup semolina flour
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • salt

for the filling:

  • 500 grams fresh asparagus, washed, cut in small pices
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • 100 grams soy cheese, grated
  • salt and pepper to taste

for the sauce:

  • 1 & 1/2 cup soy milk (plain)
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube
  • 2 tsp. corn starch
  • 20 + fresh sage leaves, minced
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest

Directions:

To make the ravioli:

  1. In a bowl, combine the pasta dough ingredients to make a dough.
  2. Wrap in a towel and let sit for 30 minutes.

Asparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauceAsparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauce

To make the filling:

  1. Slice the end of the asparagus stalk off, as it is usually old, dried and hard.
  2. Slice the asparagus in very small circles.
  3. Reserve a few asparagus tips as garnish.
  4. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
  5. Add the minced garlic.
  6. Add the asparagus pieces and gently saute until al dente.
  7. When the asparagus is ready, grate the soy cheese over and mix well.
  8. Remove from the heat and reserve.
  9. Fry of boil the asparagus tips that you wish to use as garnish.

To make the sauce:

  1. Place the soy milk in a sauce pan.
  2. Add the bouillon cube and corn starch.
  3. Gently bring the mixture to a simmer to thicken.
  4. Add the minced sage and lemon zest and juice.
  5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  6. Optionally, you may want to add bit of mustard, and or nutmeg as seasonings.

Asparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauceAsparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauceAsparagus ravioli with creamy lemon sage sauce

To make the ravioli:

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
  2. Divide the dough in fourths and roll out each portion on a floured work space, allowing the first sheet of pasta to sit while rolling out the second.
  3. One of the tricks to the pasta is to make sure you’ve rolled the dough out very thin.
  4. Cut out your ravioli shapes and fill with the filling.
  5. Place the top part of the ravioli over the filling and close with a fork.
  6. If you have a form or press, then of course that saves time you merely place 1 sheet of dough on one side, put the filling on the dough and then lay the 2nd sheet of dough on top.
  7. Close the form to seal and cut off the extra using a knife.
  8. When the ravioli have all been made.
  9. Put them in the boiling water and cook for a few minutes or until they are floating.
  10. Serve the ravioli with the sauce, garnished with a few whole fresh sage leaves and a few asparagus tips.

Notes:

Adapted from Vegatarisch Fit No. 11