Raw Thanksgiving Ravioli

Thanksgiving, and what to bring, has been on my mind, since this is the first Turkey Day that I’ve been raw. I was never really a fan of the bird anyway, but I used to load up a plate of veggies and DEFINITELY tucked into the apple pie.

So, I’ve been pondering a good dish (in addition to the Harvest Soup I wrote about last week) to bring along for the big day, to eat as my meal and to share portions of with my family.

While running the other day, I had a brain storm! I decided to change up the sausagey ravioli I made a few weeks ago, and turn it into Thanksgiving Ravioli, with some of the best flavors of the day, but with none of the cholesterol, and no post-meal stupor!! I’m posting a video of me making it below – pretty good camera work for an iPhone, I think! – as well as the written recipe below.

Thanksgiving Ravioli

Shells:

4 small-medium white & purple turnips (of course you’ll need fewer for this amount of filling if you manage to find nice big ones so that you can use one per ravioli)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

On a spiral slicer or mandoline, make paper thin slices, and marinate in olive oil (I would say for at least half an hour, so they are nice and soft to serve)

Filling:

1 ½ cups walnuts, soaked for 3-4 hours and then DRAINED

¼ cup sweet onion

1 clove garlic

½ cup celery

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1 teaspoon fennel

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1-2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu (omit if you don’t like, and just season with a little extra salt. I used Braggs for the meat-y kind of flavor, and you’ll notice in the video, I started out with 3 tablespoons…this was on the salty side. Start out with one and add more if you want more!)

Salt & black pepper to taste (if necessary)

Grind up the walnuts, onions & garlic first, so you get them going and don’t have huge chunks. Then add the rest. I like to still be able to see the parsley and celery, if only in little bits. It’s like sausage stuffing!

Let this warm to room temp, or to 105 in the dehydrator before assembling/serving.

Sauce:

2 cups cranberries

1 green onion (just the tight part, white and a little green before it gets branchy)

½ cup fresh squeezed OJ

2-3 tablespoons agave

¼ tsp salt

Few cracks of fresh black pepper

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

Blend all very well in a food processor. I had little tiny bits of cranberry still…if you prefer something smoother or chunkier, go for it!

To assemble, lay softened turnips on serving plate, plop in a heaping teaspoon of filling, fold turnips into a half moon or top with another slice, like a sandwich, depending on how big they are, and top with sauce. This amount made about three dozen ravioli for me (sandwich-style). I warmed mine up in the dehydrator a bit. Raw appétit – and Happy Thanksgiving!