Ravioli. Low-carbing is all fun and games until someone mentions Italian food. Then it gets real. I miss Italian food. I miss it a lot.
Ravioli has been my favorite dish since the first time my mother opened the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee can and dumped it in the pan. As time went on she became more adventurous, using frozen ravioli instead of canned. As we say in Texas, bless her heart. One day I learned how to make pasta and, more specifically I learned how to make ravioli.
Life was good.
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Ravioli is pasta that has been filled with some sort of filling. My personal favorite is very minimalist — basic cheese. I have made it with smoked chicken, grilled shrimp, Italian sausage, mushroom, and almost anything else you can name. I like it with garlic butter, marinara, alfredo… It really doesn’t matter.
Ravioli is not low carb. Not one bit… not even a little. Do you know what that means?
It means that every couple of months, when I can’t stand it anymore, I cave and chow down on ravioli like I was a junkie in a Fritos distribution center. It isn’t pretty, folks.
Good news! This ravioli is so low carb that you can eat it on induction. Six pieces have less than 0.5 grams of carb and less than 100 calories. Yeah. THAT’S what I am talking about.
It’s easy, fast, and doesn’t require special ingredients. The technique might take a TINY bit of practice to get it right and make it look pretty so don’t try to make it for an important event the first time you try it.
You’ll need a heavy pan. I use my cast iron griddle but any flat bottom, heavy pan will do. Cast iron is the best. The pasta is egg whites and water. That’s it. You beat the egg whites and water up, pour 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture on the preheated, lightly oiled griddle, and use the spoon gently on the surface to create a circle. In about ten seconds the egg white is set and you put a teaspoon or so of filling in the middle. Quickly fold the sides up to enclose the filling. Turn the “ravioli” over with the fold on the bottom.
Repeat. You can make three low carb ravioli per egg white. Pour a little garlic butter over the top and coat the ravioli gently. Then you put whatever sauce on it you want. It is SO good. SO SO good. And hey, look… there’s no cauliflower!
If you guys have a hard time with the shaping let me know and I will try to get a video done to demonstrate. Just leave a comment.
Let’s DO this.
- 2 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1/4 cup finely minced cooked chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon low fat ricotta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
- Pinch of chipotle powder optional
- 2 tablespoons ricotta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon basil chopped
- Pinch of garlic
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Mix the ingredients for each filling.
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Heat in microwave until hot.
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Set aside.
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Add the water to the egg white and beat with a fork until well blended.
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Heat a cast iron or other heavy pan or griddle
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Quickly rub a little butter over it and then clean it back off with a paper towel.
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Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons of the egg white onto the griddle.
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Quickly and gently move the bowl of the spoon over the top to make a perfectly even circle (or as close as you can get.)
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As soon as the top is set add a teaspoon or so of filling.
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Fold the edged up over the middle to envelope the filling.
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Gently turn the ravioli over so the folds are on the bottom.
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Let set for a few seconds then transfer to a plate.
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Repeat.
This is more flavorful if you add 1 tablespoon melted garlic butter over the top which adds 100 calories and 1 g carb. Do remember to add in the carbs and calories for any sauce you use.
Hey Marye!!!
These are on the menu for next week! Wish me luck. 😉
Good luck!
Where’s the recipe for the sauce???
It was a commercial alfredo sauce with relatively low carbs.
Wow, I love you!!!!
Thank you! 🙂
How well do you think this would hold up in a broth-based soup? I was thinking of stealing this idea to make wonton soup.
It would probably be ok if you didn’t boil it but dropped them in gently at the last minute
Have you tried this with powdered egg whites?
no I haven’t. 🙂
How is that supposed to work only with egg whites? :O
The egg whites create the outside of the ravioli, which is folded not sealed. It sounds weird but it works.
I didn’t have any luck tucking. So I made the original with ingredients, then got a second one going. I then flipped the one with filling onto the second one. Then I sealed the ravioli.
🙂