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4.50 from 2 votes

Maltese Ravjul

Maltese ravjul are a perfect little dough pockets filled with cheese and parsley, which freshness balances perfectly with the tanginess from the tomato sauce.
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Maltese
Keyword: Pasta, Ravioli
Servings: 50 ravioli

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g flour
  • 100 g semolina
  • 250 ml water
  • pinch of salt

Ricotta Filling

  • 500 g ricotta
  • 1 egg
  • 70 g parmesan cheese grated
  • handful of parsley chopped
  • salt & pepper

Tomato sauce

  • 4 tbsp kunserva (tomato paste/concentrate)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove

Instructions

For the dough:

  • In a bowl, or in a mixer with a dough attachment, mix all of the dough ingredients. Knead well for about 10 minutes. Cover the dough tightly in cling film and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

For the filling:

  • While the dough is resting, prepare the filling by mashing all the ingredients together with a fork until they are well combined. Cover and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Assembling and cooking:

  • Dust some semolina on a sheet pan or two, and leave it on the side. Divide the dough into four equal parts. Work with one part at a time and leave the rest covered with the cling film. If you have a pasta machine this will make your job easier, however, no worries a simple rolling pin will be enough.
  • Roll the dough into about 0.5 cm thick as the dough shouldn’t be so thin. Cut circles with an 8 cm cookie cutter or a glass. 
  • Fill these circles with a teaspoon of ricotta filling, and brush the edges with water. Close tightly around the filling. If you want, here you can use a fork to crimp the edges.
  • Place the ravjul on the semolina covered sheet pan and leave some space between one another, so that they don’t stick together. Keep repeating these steps until all of your dough and filling are finished. 
  • To cook the ravjul, just boil some water seasoned with salt, and cook until the ravjul floats to the top, after approximately 8 minutes.

For the sauce:

  • Slice the garlic thinly and cook in the olive oil for a few minutes until it is soft. 
  • Carefully, add the kunserva (tomato concentrate) and the remaining ingredients and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. 
  • Serve the ravjul immediately with the sauce on top and some grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

  • You can also fry the ravjul. Simply, after boiling just place the ravjul in a hot frying pan with some oil and let them crisp up and brown. Enjoy warm alone or with some sauce.
  • If you aren’t going to cook the ravjul immediately, place the sheet pan with the ravjul, in the freezer for about an hour. Afterwards you can easily take them off the pan and place them in a container or plastic bag. With this method they shouldn’t stick together. They are now ready for you to enjoy whenever you want; just take them out from the freezer and put them directly into the boiling water. In about 10 minutes they should be ready.