Wishing to continue the theme that a specific day on the calender shouldn’t have to tell us when to care about our loved ones, I’m not going to care how far past that date now is; This idea is excellent anytime you want to tell someone they mean something to you.
Day dreaming in study hall (about food, as usual), I lazily thought of how much I wished I could thank my mother for everything she’s done for me. It’s just the small things we take for granted, and now I definitely owed her. Attempting to combine some of her favorite culinary aspects – chocolate, pastry, and fruit – I devised a ‘fancy’ treat that is so rediculously easy to throw together, it feels almost as if you’ve cheated or cut corners. Let me assure you though, the end result is not only a fantastic presentation and tastes delicious, there’s no one else to steal away the credit. Oh yes honey, hours thinking of you as I slaved in the kitchen…
Cheater’s Chocolate “Ravioli”
-Frozen Puff Pastry (check labels!!)
-Strawberries
-Various Chocolates
This barely even needs a recipe, only assembly, so sit tight while I bore you with the details.
Make sure you defrost the puff pastry for the alloted time marked on the package (atleast 45 minutes or so) before attempting to work with it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or whatever your specific brand suggests. Gentle roll out the pastry just enough to flatten out any creases or bumps, but don’t go crazy here – you’re not actually trying to make it any larger.
Cut out your desired shapes with fairly large cookie cutters, remembering that you need atleast two to make one ravioli (hey, sometimes it’s easier to screw up a simple recipe) and place one from each pair on a silpat (parchment paper, but I wouldn’t go for wax, unless you enjoy the taste of crayons.) Now, grab just the tiniest bit of chocolate – here’s where the fun starts to happen. This would be a great application for vegan truffles or simply your favorite vegan chocolate. Both of which will probably require a size reduction – it may not seem like much, but when paired with your delicious fruit sauce, it will come together beautifully, trust me.
Place your top half of dough over your bottom layer to create your little pocket of chocolate. Now is when you need to pay special attention to all sides, ensuring that there are no gaps or tears, or you will have leakage later. You may wish to moisten the edges for a firm seal, or crimp it all the way around with a fork, such as I did.
Throw these babies in the oven for about 10 – 14 minutes, checking periodically because there are few things that can go from perfect to blackened quite like pastry in general. As they cook away, puree your strawberries (fresh or frozen, doesn’t matter) and mix with sugar to taste. Nuke either in the microwave or on the stove until the heat and consistancy are to your liking. It’s not very specific, so go ahead and play around with it. Oh and as another aside, feel free to substitute any berry you might prefer instead. We just happen to have frozen strawberries, and I thought it would be cute to mimic a tomato-sauce type of side with the ravioli.
When the raviolis are lightly browned, pull from the oven and sprinkle lightly with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Allow to cool for a few minutes so your love isn’t burnt by molten chocolate, present with sauce on the side, and be prepared to accept a whole lot of praise.
Easy as that!