Pumpkin Pockets

Recipe by: Jennifer Carden | from The Toddler Cafe: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater

Cookstr

Course: Main Course, Snack

Total Time: Under 30 Minutes

Skill Level: Easy

Cost: Inexpensive

Photo by: Joseph De Leo

Here is a very easy way to make homemade ravioli. Gyoza wrappers can be baked, fried, or boiled like pasta. In this case, the wrappers cook up just like pasta, with a creamy inside. Serve with browned cinnamon butter, or just plain as a great finger food. Freeze extra pockets for those nights when the kids are hungry and you’re too tired to cook. Just boil, drain, and serve.

Yield: Makes 60 ravioli

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces cream cheese
1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon kosher salt for pasta water
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (see note )
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 package (60) round gyoza wrappers (see Notes)
2 tablespoons butter
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preparation: Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on high for 30 seconds to soften. Add the pumpkin and stir to combine. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, the nutmeg, and cinnamon, and mix with a stick blender or by hand until the filling is smooth.

Place a ½ teaspoon–sized ball of filling in the center of each wrapper. Wet the edges with water, and fold the ravioli over to form half moons. Pinch to close, pressing down lightly around the mounds of filling to prevent air bubbles.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of the salt. Gently add the ravioli, and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they float. (Depending on the size of the pot, you may have to cook them in batches.) Drain the pasta and toss them with butter and Parmesan.

Notes

1. If you are cooking frozen Pumpkin Pockets’ extend the cooking time to 6 minutes.

2. If you have whole nutmeg, use your micro grater or box grater to grate it into the filling.

3. Wonton wrappers are square and gyoza are round and slightly thicker, but they are essentially made of the same ingredients. You can use either for this recipe; cooking time will be longer for gyoza.