I loved the Rio Bertolini Butternut Squash Ravioli made with dairy and lamented that I was unable to locally obtain Rio Bertolini’s Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli – and lo and behold, I was contacted by Rio Bertolini, asking if I would like to try their Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli.
Through arrangements with my local purveyor of Rio Bertolini’s fabulous pasta, I was able to try both their Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli, as well as their Vegan Tuscan Bean and Basil Ravioli.
Mama mia! Both were fabulous!
I served them last night to three carnivores (my loving hubby and son, and a very dear friend), along with Rio Bertolini’s heart-shaped ravioli (stuffed with ricotta), which was a huge hit in my household on Valentine’s Day. Since I had banned Parmesan on the vegan ravioli, I was seriously concerned that my dinner companions would need something with dairy to keep them happy.
But guess what? I needn’t have worried!
Since I couldn’t use butter or cream as a basis for my sauce on the vegan ravioli, and thought a tomato based sauce would overwhelm the delicate flavor, I decided to create a chunky sauce that was laden with veggies. So, I sautéed a minced red onion, garlic, diced yellow, orange, and red peppers, and chopped butternut squash, and mixed it with Tofurky’s Chick’n Apple Artisan Sausage for extra protein. Chick’n Apple Sausage is one of the newer Tofurky sausage products, and it is very good. Its simple ingredients include wheat gluten, tofu, apple juice, wheat berries, garlic, sesame oil, paprika, lemon juice, and spices. We thought it added an appealing omph, a touch of sweetness, and a hearty meatiness to the sauce which would make anyone forget that there was no dairy in the ravioli!
Wow, what a delightful combination!
The Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli were redolent of the simple clean flavors of pureed squash, cinnamon, brown sugar, sage, salt, and pepper. The Vegan Tuscan Bean and Sage Ravioli was a bit more complex with pureed cannelloni beans, basil, lemon spinach, garlic, salt and pepper. Both types of ravioli were complimented by my Butternut Squash Sauce recipe below.
All of Rio Bertolini’s ravioli take only a few minutes to make and are absolutely fool-proof. Put them in a large pot of briskly boiling salted water . . . and when the ravioli float to the top, they are done!
I can’t wait for you to try the recipe, and discover that it truly is possible to not miss the meat – or the dairy – when you are cooking quality vegan ravioli made by Rio Bertolini. Please let me know what you think!
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, minced
- 1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped in small cubes
- 2 small mini yellow peppers, diced
- 2 small mini red peppers, diced
- 2 small mini orange peppers, diced
- ⅓ cup dry white wine
- ½ lemon, juiced
- ½ cup (or more) organic vegetable stock
- 2 Tofurky Chick'n & Apple Sausage (1/2 package), sliced lengthwise into quarters and then chopped
- 8-10 minced sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
- 1 box Rio Bertolini's Vegan Tuscan Bean and Basil Ravioli
- 1 box Rio Bertolini's Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cover it with a lid so that it comes to a boil faster.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the red onion over low heat 6-7 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic.
- Saute the cubed butternut squash for 8 minutes, adding the peppers after 5 minutes.
- Add the white wine and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the lemon juice, and then the stock.
- Let everything simmer until the squash is tender (about 5-6 minutes more).
- Add the sausage pieces, sage, and parsley, and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Break the ravioli into pieces along the perforated lines. They come 12 to a box, so you will have 24 ravioli. Add about 2 tablespoons of salt to the boiling water. Add the ravioli to the briskly boiling salted water. Cook until the ravioli rise to the surface. Before draining, dip out a cup of the starchy pasta water in case you need it to thin the sauce.
- Season sauce to taste and serve over the Rio Bertolini vegan ravioli. Thin the sauce with a little of the pasta water if needed. Enjoy!
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