Baking Escapade #9: Date and Fig Ravioli

Tuesday was a day that S and I spent the way most of us love to spend time…..shopping…………..not just anywhere, but in my beloved gallis of general bazaar or king james street in Secunderabad…..its a veritable treasure trove and you can find just about anything you are looking for……..S is the proud owner of a brand new OTG and what better way to celebrate than to trudge half across town to buy baking supplies?? So off we went buying cake tins, muffin pans, icing guns, cookie cutters and everything else that took her fancy in the baking supplies shop…… the excitement is just so contagious ….. and the next day I found myself poring over my cookie book…..at the back of my mind I was looking for something that I could send in as my entry for AFAM, this month it is dates and I actually had no idea what to do…..the book on hand has 300 assorted cookie recipes…and as luck would have it…just one with dates….. Fig and Date Ravioli….i reversed the quantities of figs and dates as this is my entry to AFAM, this month calls for dates and is hosted by Chandrika of Akshayapatra…….I looked up the dictionary which describes Ravioli as a “small circular or square cases of dough with savory fillings” …. The recipe didn’t looked too scary and so last afternoon I set myself up in my kitchen….. those of you who have been reading my baking escapades know by now that the afternoons are my time of choice for baking…because if it ends in a flop show, I have enough of time to junk the evidence and fumigate the kitchen!!

The ravioli, called for short crust pastry which I had no idea what it was, so I decided to make the basic cookie dough with very little sugar as a substitute…..I need’nt have feared, today when I looked online, I discovered that short crust pastry was the same thing minus the sugar!! If sugar is added to the mixture it becomes a sweet crust pastry…..read more on this here….. The ravioli turned out beautifully, far above my expectations and I literally had to plead with K to leave some for the photograph….ofcourse he attempted to guilt trip me with the “you are always cooking for the blog these days” look….but I managed to get a few shots…I must add a disclaimer that they don’t do justice to either the way the ravioli looked or tasted…. It was a crisp biscuit case with a nice mildly sweet-nutty stuffing…..this will be added to my festive repertoire for sure…..

this too like the pinwheels is being sent off to Susan of the Food blogga who has this fabulous round up for christmas cookies. i’ve already made a few selections to make up for christmas….she’s updating the entries as she receives them, so be sure to check it out here.

Date and fig Ravioli

Makes about 20

375 gms short crust pastry

To make your own short crust pastry: 2 cups all purpose flour (maida), I cup chilled butter cut into pieces, a little cold water, 1 tbsp powdered sugar.

Sift the flour, rub the butter into it till it resembles crumbs. Add water to make a soft dough. Do not over knead. Refrigerate for atleast 30 mins before use.

Milk for brushing

2 tbsp icing sugar for dusting

For the filling:

2/3 cup dates

1/3 cup dried figs

1 tbsp chopped walnuts

2 tspn lime juice

1tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. make the filling by putting all the ingredients for filling into a food processor and make a coarse crumbly paste.

Divide the pastry into two, one a little more than the other. Roll out the smaller portion into a square on a lightly floured surface. It should be about 1/6^th of an inch in thickness. Place spoonfuls of the date and fig mixture on the rolled out pastry in neat rows at equally spaced intervals.

Roll out the remaining pastry to a slightly larger square. Dampen all around each spoonful of filling with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Place the second sheet of pastry on top to cover and press together around each filling.

Using a zigzag pastry wheel or a pizza cutter, cut squares between the mounds of filling. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and brush lightly with milk. Bake for 15-20 min till golden.

Transfer to a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar.