Raviolia (Ραβιόλια)

This is a typical cypriot dish, perfect for an evening where time is short as these can be frozen and eaten at a later date. My yiayia makes these for my pappou at lunchtime and just the smell of the aromatic mint and halloumi takes me to the heart of Nicosia in the summer. Recently, I had one of those uneventful Sundays. There was some halloumi that my yiayia had bought me from Cyprus leftover and so decided to make some raviolia. In the cupboard I also have a stash of the most wonderful dried mint (also from my yiayia) and you really can smell the difference between that and the one from the supermarket...there is no comparison.

Ingredients: 

225g plan flour

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 eggs

150g grated halloumi cheese

50ml warm water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon

1 tablespoon dried mint

dash of pepper

You will also need a ravioli cutter or shaper.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, oil and egg. Then add the water slowly and work the dough for around 5-10 minutes. The dough should be soft and not too sticky or too dry, if you need more water or flour then add it. Set it aside, covered with clingfilm and leave it for about half an hour.

For the filling, mix together the other egg, the halloumi and the spices and herbs.

Roll half of the the pastry out thinly and lay either on a floured surface or on to a ravioli shaper. If you doo not have a shaper then mark out regular squares of about 2x2cm. Place a spoon of the filling in the middle of each ravioli and then cover with a second thin layer of the pastry. Cut out the ravioli shapes and set them onto a plate.

When you have used up all of the pastry and filling, leave the raviolia for about half an hour. Afterwards, you can either cook them, boiling for about 10-15 minutes or freeze them. If you decide to freeze them then arrange them in layers with clingfilm in-between each layer so that they do not stick.

I like to eat them plain, with a drizzle of olive oil or in some vegetable stock. I also like to make a thick spicy tomato sauce and spoon it over the top.

This is what we eat when we are in Cyprus and are too tired to go out to eat. There is always a supply of them in the freezer and they are so quick to just throw in the pan. But more importantly...they are delicious ;)