Turkey Spinach Ravioli

About 2 years ago, after slowly but surely cutting out more and more foods from my diet, I cut out all cow's dairy. It was hard but it made a world of difference. Towards the end of my pregnancy until now I have been back on dairy although still in moderation. It makes life A LOT easier:).

But while I was living non-cow's dairy, I had to get creative in my cooking. For anyone that has ever had to cut dairy out of their lives, Ashley I'm talking to you:), any amount of prepared foods that you were accustomed to buying are in all likelihood outside of your diet. You see pretty much everything has some milk product in it. Whey is particularly popular as a commercial thickener. So even filled pastas from the grocery store were off the grocery list because of their contents.

Thankfully, I love goat cheese.
If you don't I'm so sorry for you because it is creamy and delicious!

Whether you have dairy issues or not, you will love these raviolis!

INGREDIENTS
1 Onion
6 cloves Garlic, minced
1 lbs Ground Turkey and/or Hot Italian Turkey Sausage
1 package Frozen Chopped Spinach (defrost and press out water with paper towels)
6 oz Goat Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
I package Wonton Wrappers (preferably round)
I glass of water for assembly

DIRECTIONS
Add onion to a saute pan and saute over medium-high heat until the onions begin to sweat (If you are using a nonstick pan there is no need for oil but otherwise you will need a tablespoon of oil in the pan before begin to saute). Add the meat and de-cased sausage to the pan and begin to brown. Now add in the minced garlic begin careful to keep it on top of the meat so it does not burn. Continue to cook the meat until all the pink has disappeared. Drain any fat out of the pan and then allow the meat to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, add the spinach, goat cheese and salt and pepper to the food processor bowl. Now add the meat and pulse until a thick paste is formed. You want the filling to be able to hold it's shape but it should not be dry.

To assemble your raviolis layout wonton wrappers on a baking sheet and spoon a generous teaspoon of filling onto each wrapper. Now set aside a stack of wonton wrappers, and wet your finger in the glass of water. Wet the edge of the wonton wrappers and then place another wrapper on top and press with your fingers to seal the edges. It may be necessary to press down the filling some to make the shape easier to close.


After all of your raviolis are made, allow them to set out to dry for 20-30 minutes to dry slightly. This will help them to hold their shape and not stick to each other too much when they are cooking. If you needed to, you could complete this process ahead of time and refrigerate them or freeze them in their current state and just cook them before serving.

When you are ready to serve, prepare a stockpot of boiling salted water. Cook raviolis in batches, making sure that there is sufficient surface area with each batch. The cooking process will likely only take 1-2 minutes for each batch. Remove to a platter as they cook, and cover each layer with marinara sauce to prevent sticking. Once all of the raviolis are cooked, pour the remaining marinara over top, or reserve to serve on the side. Enjoy!