Black Bean Ravioli with Cotija and Fresh Oregano

It doesn’t have quite the timeless ring of “black beans and rice,” but here we are anyway: black bean ravioli. Where cheap comfort food and painstaking pasta-making collide. And like many good twists on classic dishes, this one was difficult and time-consuming to make, even with my disregard to the uniformity of the ravioli’s shape and overall prettiness. But if you’ll recall my last kitchen disaster with black beans, at least these homemade raviolis were edible. Actually, they were delicious, and that makes it all worthwhile (at least on special occasions).

So, picking up the five-pound sack of black beans I’d bought for the previous cooking mission and avoided looking at again until now, I was curious to see if they might do well as a filling of some sort. I didn’t automatically snap and say “ravioli,” but over a period of re-thinking black beans as not a tongue-searing, panic-inducing, corpse-reviving stingray of a food substance (shudder), the idea gradually came.

cranking out the pasta sheets

I have never had a very intimate relationship with flour. Growing up in a household that rarely baked except on holidays, I don’t have the years of experience with the fine white silt behind me to not find it surprising when it turns up on my windowsill, or on my skirt the next day. Baby powder might be a more instinctual guess. Flour was that white dust inside that greyish dust-covered paper bag in the pantry. This was all before investing in a machine that cranks out fresh pasta dough into thin sheets or noodles. The key to making this happen, however, is having a high tolerance to flour — in your hair, in the air, and everywhere in the dough’s vicinity.

black bean paste makes an earthy-tasting filling

Now, after having more than a few turns at cranking out fresh pasta from a machine (which requires — lest you get sticky stuff all over your equipment — the frequent dusting of flour at every stage), I have seen flour from a much more up-close angle.

So we’ve conquered this little road, with flour. There always seems to be more reason to coat my entire apartment with it these days. First there was home bread baking, then there was pasta… it probably won’t end there. And since both bread and pasta taste oh so much better to me when they’re homemade, I’ll be cranking out plenty versions in my spare time to come.

six raviolis-to-be

For garnish, I’d originally wanted to slather the cooked pasta with a nice, shiny coating of oregano pesto. I’ve made pesto from fresh oregano before, and it tasted terrific then. But I’m not sure what went wrong this time. When it was all mashed up and ready to pour, this batch tasted defiantly bitter. The leaves looked fresh and healthy enough — nothing wrong there. Maybe I got too many little stem pieces into the mix? I have no idea, but it tasted off, so I didn’t end up using it. Just chopped a lot of extra fresh oregano, and blended it with some Italian parsley and basil from the handy plants. Perhaps yours will turn out better? Ah, the mysteries of cooking…

fresh oregano

Of course, instead of Italian cheese, this dish received a final dusting of grated cotija, Mexico’s hard, dry, aged answer to Parmiggiano or Romano. A little squirt of lime and it was all set.

Black Bean Ravioli with Cotija and Fresh Oregano
(makes 4-6 servings)

2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tossing things around in
1 cup dry black beans, soaked overnight in plenty of water
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5-6 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese
leaves of 1 bunch of fresh oregano, trimmed well from stems
other herbs, chopped (optional)
juice of half a lime

Heat about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saucepan over medium. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 6-8 minutes. Add the soaked and drained black beans, the cumin, peppers, and a pinch of salt and enough water to cover beans by about half an inch. Turn to low and simmer for about 1 hour. Check the beans once or twice for water level. If scorching on the bottom, add a little more; if there’s too much on top still, remove cover and cook until water has evaporated. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, etc. as desired. Finally, add the butter. Blend with a hand blender or simple masher until the beans have reached a slightly bumpy, but mostly smooth and creamy consistency.

Make ravioli sheets: Pour the flour into a large bowl. Create a well in the center, and add 4 eggs. Mix the eggs by stirring with your hands in a circular motion. Gradually incorporate flour from the edges into the eggs, until all has been incorporated. If necessary, add a tablespoon of water to the mixture (and preferably no more). Alternately, if dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes until smooth-textured. Form into a ball and let dough rest for 15 minutes, covered in plastic wrap. Cut off about a third and run through a pasta crank, flouring before each run, until it has completed the thinnest or second-to-thinnest setting. Continue with each chunk until all the dough is used and the sheets are resting separately on a well-floured surface.

Turn one ravioli sheet onto a well-floured surface and size it up against another sheet. If the two are roughly the same size, then place teaspoon-sized dots of the black bean mixture about 1 1/2″ inches apart from another on the first sheet (you can always just cut down the ravioli sheets to whatever size you feel most comfortable to work with, but I find this technique faster). Dip your finger in a bowl of water and trace lines of water in a grid around each dot of bean filling, to close the sides of the ravioli. Now carefully place the other pasta sheet on half and begin by pressing down on the middle spine, in between the two rows of bean filling. Continue to stretch and press your way along all the lines of the “grid,” being careful not to allow too much air into each ravioli square. Once all edges are sealed, cut with a knife (or pizza wheel!) into individual squares.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Drop in ravioli (in batches, if needed) and cook for about 2-3 minutes each. Remove gently with a slotted spoon and drain. Transfer ravioli to an oiled bowl immediately after draining and drizzle well throughout with more olive oil. Continue until all the ravioli have been cooked. Toss the ravioli with the rest of the oil (adding more if desired), a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper, the herbs, the cheese and the lime juice. Serve immediately.

Cost Calculator
(for 4-6 servings)

2 eggs (at $3.99/doz): $0.67
1 1/2 cups flour: $0.65
1 cup black beans: $0.50
1 bunch fresh oregano: $1.50
6 tablespoons olive oil: $1.25
1 onion: $0.30
2 cloves garlic: $0.05
2 tablespoons butter: $0.25
half a lime (at 6/$1): $0.08
1/2 cup grated Cojita cheese (at $4.99/lb): $0.60
optional basil and parsley: $0.25
cumin, peppers, salt: $0.05

Total: $6.15

Health Factor

Six brownie points: This is on the verge of being unhealthily oily, as most ravioli dishes are, but since it’s filled with protein-rich, but far from fattening beans instead of cheese, and given only a minor garnish of Cojita, this is about as healthy as raviolis come. With a healthy dose of nutritious, green leafy herbs to boot.

Green Factor

Four brownie points: It’s not a particularly “green” recipe, but in theory it sort of is. Have you noticed I haven’t been cooking much meat? Obviously, not all ravioli or pasta in general is nor should include meat, pasture-raised or otherwise, but this meat-alternative dish gives it a run for its money. Literally. Beans provide this dish with a vegetarian dose of protein while being filling, satisfying, and an overall tasty substitute. And best of all, they’re cheap. Where exactly they were harvested is another story, but being the long shelf-living, easily transported legumes that they are, a sack of beans is a healthy, low-inpact staple to have around.

14 Responses

  1. Olivia
    |

    Oh man! This looks delicious! The only problem is that I don’t have a pasta crank…And every time I try rolling it by hand, it always ends up too thick and chewy. Sigh. That’s what I get for rolling with a wine bottle…

  2. Joanna
    |

    I love the idea of making ravioli with a Mexican twist – looks so good! Unfortunately I don’t have your flour tolerance yet (the words “well-floured surface” make me cringe a little) but I’ve used wonton wrappers to make cheaters’ ravioli before, maybe I’ll try something similar here.

  3. kiki
    |

    Hmmm. I sense a bit of negativity in your voice as you write… did you not like this dish? I’m not sold on this one yet.

    BUT – your asparagus pie was a total hit! And I properly gave credit to you. You invented that?!? Good job. Great job. I chickened out that the filling was too runny before baking, so I added a couple tablespoons of flour. Other than that, perfecto!

    http://roundoaktablev2.blogspot.com/

  4. Dr. Food
    |

    Yum, ravioli! I have a massive bumper crop of arugula that I’m going to use to make arugula ravioli sometime this week–I’ll trade you the recipe!

    On another note, I gave you the Sweet Home Blogger Award on my site–doctorfood.blogspot.com–check it out!!

  5. jes
    |

    Have you tried Rancho Gordo beans? You need to try them. They’re so worth any trouble or time. I’ve started to collect them. (I’m slightly obsessed with my bean collection now.) Regardless, you should try them. Heaven.

  6. Hilary
    |

    OMG these look so good!

    I made your Death by Chocolate award-winner for a gathering of my two best girlfriends a week ago, and we are still fainting with pleasure.

    Thank you!

  7. Meghan
    |

    I hope I don’t sound like a know-it-all telling you this, but salting the beans before they are completely cooked interferes with how they soften. It takes longer for them to cook, and in my experience they never achieve that uniformly soft consistency the ones in a can have. Anyhow, I make a big pot of beans every week and no longer salt them until the very very end. Now, they have that texture that makes them perfect for eating whole or mashing up. Just a suggestion for you to try!

  8. ChristinaM
    |

    I’ve made ravioli using wonton wrappers several times with success. They are slightly thinner and softer than semolina dough, so the texture is slightly different, but still delicious. I highly recommend it. A MILLION times easier (none of that flying flour, either). A quick google sets you up with tons of recipes. There was a good one for Sweet Potato ravioli in Cooking Light a while back. I added a ton of herbs, shallots, and some parmesan, and it was awesome in browned sage butter. Also try mushrooms in a cream sauce. Mmmm.

  9. CasseroleCrazy
    |

    I was lucky enough to eat this (I believe this particular batch, in fact) and it was delicious!

  10. cathy
    |

    Thanks everyone! Emily, you most certainly did eat this batch.
    Christina: I’m totally with you on the wonton wrappers, they’re like fresh egg pasta in ready-to-use squares! I made little quiches with them once, but for some reason have to do things the hard way sometimes.
    Jes: No, I haven’t tried Rancho Gordo but will have to pick some up next time I’m near Marlow & Sons (the only Brooklyn vendor for them, it seems…)
    Meghan: I think I have heard this bit of wisdom about salting beans, and then promptly forgot it. So thank you!
    Kiki: Glad the pie was a hit! I do think the pie was probably better than this ravioli, but I thoroughly enjoyed these, if not the entire process of making them.

  11. Ron Z.
    |

    Do you mean Cotija cheese?

    Cotija is a wonderful crumbly, tangy, salty Mexican cheese that I love to use. They carry it at my local market. It comes in the form of a squat, firm, white cylinder.

    No fancy cheese knife is required. Just crumble it with your fingers into salads, tacos, beans etc. Doesn’t melt well.

    Why is Mexican food so darn much fun?

  12. Kirstyn
    |

    I wanted to make this tonight but im just wondering how many eggs i actually need….in the ingredients list and the cost calculations list it says two eggs, but in the instructions it says “Create a well in the center, and add 4 eggs. ” Hope someone can help before i get started!
    P.S. how many noodles does it make on average??
    Thanks
    ~Kirstyn

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