California Grill's Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli

California Grill’s Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli

Ingredients

Goat Cheese Ravioli
1 pound soft mild goat cheese, crumbled
5 12 ounces aged goat cheese, crumbled
12 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons store-bought basil pesto
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons roasted garlic purée (recipe follows)
12 teaspoon salt, or to taste
18 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste
16 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Clear Tomato Broth, optional (recipe follows)

Clear Tomato Broth
Makes 4 cups
15 whole vine-ripened tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt

Roasted Garlic Purée
Makes 2 tablespoons
1 whole head garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation

Goat Cheese Ravioli
In a large bowl, stir together the fresh goat cheese, aged goat cheese, bread crumbs, pesto, olive oil, roasted garlic purée, salt, and pepper until well combined. On a work surface, lay out 8 egg roll wrappers and brush each with the egg wash. With a sharp knife, mark each wrapper into 4 squares, taking care not to cut all of the way through. Place about 1 tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture in the center of each square. Cover with the 8 remaining egg roll wrappers and press the edges together. With a knife, cut each double wrapper with filling into 4 squares, to yield 32 squares of filled ravioli. Press the edges together. (If you are not using the ravioli immediately, sprinkle them lightly with cornmeal, and store refrigerated between layers of waxed paper).
When ready to serve, cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain completely. Serve with Clear Tomato Broth or chopped seeded ripe tomatoes.

Clear Tomato Broth
In a blender, in batches, coarsely chop the tomatoes with the salt. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large sieve lined with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, set it over a bowl, and let the mixture drain in the refrigerator for 24 hours to collect the liquid. Discard the tomato pulp and reserve the liquid.

Roasted Garlic Purée
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off the stem and top third of 1 whole garlic head. Place the garlic on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the garlic with foil, seal the edges tightly and roast for 1 hour. Remove the package from the oven, open carefully, and let the garlic cool slightly. Scrape or squeeze the pulp from the garlic cloves.

Cook’s Notes
If you don’t want to make the tomato broth, top the ravioli with chopped, seeded, ripe tomatoes-or a tomato juice “cocktail” also makes a suitable broth. Serves 4 to 6.