Ingredients
For the Pastry Dough (Enough for about 30 Ravioli di San Giuseppe)
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour (or "as much as is needed")
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon salt
For filling:
1 can of chickpeas (19 oz)
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup ground walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 small orange
Vegetable oil for frying
An egg beaten with a half a cup of water [to moisten the dough if it hardens]
Icing sugar for dusting
Directions
Mix the pastry dough ingredients and work into a fine dough (Add more flour if the dough is too soft, add a touch more water if it's too hard).
Shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in clear plastic.
Let the dough rest at room temperature while the filling is being made (about 1/2 an hour to an hour).
Place the chickpeas in a pan and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes in their own juice.
After the chickpeas are cooked, drain them, and then put them in a blender or food mill until smooth (Or mash them by hand however best you can).
Combine the mashed-up chickpeas, ground walnuts, honey, sugar, cinnamon, salt and cocoa powder. Put aside.
Cut the rested dough into small portions.
Pass each portion through the pasta machine to the smallest number (keeping in mind that the faster one does this the better as the dough hardens, and then that makes it hard to make the cookies, as the dough will not stick together and/or it will crack).
Using a commercial cookie cutter or a home-made one cut out the rolled out dough into 3 inch squares.
Put about a teaspoon in the center of each square of dough [Too much stuffing will not only make it hard to seal the cookies, but the end result will not taste as good] and then top the bottom squares with the top.
Press the sides of each ravioli with a fork (If the dough has hardened one can moisten the edges of the pastry pocket dough with a beaten egg that has been mixed with half a cup of water).
After all the ravioli have been made, fry them in hot oil for about two and a half minutes or until they are golden (Turn them over in the oil if necessary).
Cool.
Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
Notes
This is a modern-version of the traditional "ravioli di San Giuseppe" recipe. What makes the recipe non-traditional is the use of cocoa powder in the pastry dough. Also in the past "ravioli do San Giuseppe" were presented as half moons rather than squares. Half moons and/or crescent moons were associated with good fortune. Nowadays, most people have forgotten this association and/or if they haven't forgotten they no longer believe the size of the moon has any bearing on the course of their lives.... Photo: Mary Melfi. |
