{budget}fab*

fab* recipe: fried ravioli with marinara cream sauce

Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by dara in socialite

This recipe is one of my absolute favorite recipes of all time. It’s one of those “fried/comfort food” recipes, but it’s so worth it! These recipes were taken from two similar recipes on Food Network by none other than the fabulous Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis. This recipe is fairly simple to make and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. It’s perfect finger food for entertaining a group of friends as well.

Ingredients:

Olive oil, for frying
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1 box cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli)
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan
1 ½ cups of your favorite marinara sauce
½ cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F. Since most of us don’t have deep-fry thermometers, I’d say to just turn on the olive oil after you’ve prepared all the ravioli for frying and can concentrate on deep frying only. The reason being is because if the oil gets too hot, the outside of your ravioli will cook faster than the inside, which means the ravioli will be burnt on the outside and cold on the inside.

Put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in the buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge the ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli. It’s best to use one hand for the buttermilk (left) and one hand for the bread crumbs (right). This way you have one “wet” hand and one “dry” hand.

In a large saucepan, combine the sauce and cream. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. If you use an entire jar of marinara sauce, use the ratio of 1 ½ cups of marinara to a ½ cup of heavy whipping cream.

When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.

Sprinkle the fried ravioli with parmesan and serve with a bowl of the warm sauce for dipping.

Image from Fallen Souffle

Tags: cheap and easy recipes, easy appetizers for entertaining, easy recipes, food network, fried ravioli, giada de laurentiis, paula deen