Food: Fried Raviolis the Easy Way

Years ago (2004), I worked at a restaurant in Streetsboro called Rizzi’s Italian Ristorante as a cook. My roommate and fraternity brother, Greg, was the head chef and quickly taught me the ropes. One of the dishes I quickly fell in love with was Fried Ravioli. It is ridiculous easy to cook as well.

Ingredients:

· A bag of Raviolis (cheese or beef) $5 at Wal-Mart for a HUGE bag
· 1 Can of Italian breadcrumbs
· 1 Cup of grated Parmesan Cheese
· Vegetable Oil
· 1 Jar of Marinara Sauce
· 2 Large Eggs or 1 Cup of Buttermilk

Begin by pouring roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of vegetable oil into a pan and place it on your stove to start heating up. While the oil is warming, crack the eggs, whip them and place them in a bowl (or pour buttermilk into a bowl).

On a separate plate, mix up 1 to 1.5 cups of breadcrumbs with your cup of Parmesan cheese. Using only raviolis that have no tears or corners missing, dip a ravioli into the eggs (or buttermilk) and coat it liberally. Next, press it into the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to coat the entire ravioli.

By now, your oil should be good and hot. If you don’t have a thermometer, just sprinkle some of the breadcrumbs into the oil and see if they sizzle. Carefully begin placing your coated raviolis in the pan. After a couple minutes, you’ll want to flip them over. We’re going for a crispy, nice brown color on both sides. Have a plate set up to the side with a paper towel on it to place the cooked raviolis and give them a chance to drain.

I did batches off 10 raviolis at a time. While one batch was cooking, I was breading another batch. All-in-all, it took me about 20 minutes from start to finish to cook everything. Serve with a cup of marinara sauce (hot or cold, it won’t matter).

The nice thing about these fried raviolis is that they are great warmed back up to. If you microwave them, they’ll come up a little more soggy (sort of tasting like normal ravioli), but if you want that crispness back, you can either toss them back in hot oil again for 30 seconds or pop them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. This meal is excellent for a dinner of two or to entertain guests because it is incredibly cheap, inexpensive and has a great payoff.

Enjoy!

-Chad 2