Food52
I was toying with ideas for bar food, for Game Night, and when I remembered my class in San Francisco and my mastery of deep frying in a regular 4-quart pot with a thermometer. And so this recipe was born. The secret to making non-greasy fried foods is to use the right type of oil and to be sure the oil is hot enough. If you do this, the food is cooked quickly and very little oil is absorbed. The easiest way to assure this is to use a deep fat thermometer. Also, you need to use the right type of oil. Select an oil that has a high smoking point. A high smoke point is important because heating oil to the point that it smokes is what makes frying unhealthy. When the oil begins to smoke, it produces toxic fumes and harmful free radicals. We don’t want free radicals, no political pun intended. I use grape seed oil which has a smoke point of 420 degrees and a neutral flavor. Don’t use extra virgin olive oil which has a smoke point of 320 degrees. You can also use canola oil (smoke point 400 degrees) or peanut oil (smoke point 440 degrees). The other trick to making this into a dish that no one can resist is to be sure to use Panko breadcrumbs. Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese style breadcrumbs made from crustless bread. The crustless bread is roughly ground into large flakes, which stay crisper longer because they don’t absorb as much oil. This is the other secret to non-greasy fried food. If you use regular breadcrumbs, you won’t get crispy ravioli. I serve these with a homemade tomato sauce (see the recipe below) but you can use a store bought marinara sauce or even a chunky blue cheese or ranch salad dressing. I tasted this recipe using giant ravioli from Costco and gourmet ravioli from a fancier store. The Costco ravioli are hands down the best! Even the next day or as a midnight snack, these are delicious. Someone I know, but I’m not naming names, even scarfed these cold.
