Pumpkin and goat's cheese ravoli

Little dinner party here on Saturday night for some special people.

I prepared the entire dinner on Friday night and Saturday morning, as I knew I would be out of the house for the whole of the afternoon before my guests' arrived. I was slightly stressed about this, but it ended up being fine and the food I'd prepared required a little heating up, cooking and serving.

I made these pumpkin ravoli on Saturday morning and stored them in an air-tight container. It then took only five minutes to cook them and serve them. These ravoli, made with wonton wrappers, are very easy to prepare, look spectacular and are so yummy to eat. If you've never made your own ravoli, give this a go. You can fill them with basically anything. I've tried the following combinations:

• Sun-dried tomatoes, goat's cheese and fresh herbs
• Bolognese sauce
• Roasted pumpkin and goat's cheese
• Left-over braised lamb shanks.

You can also make 'Asian style' gyozas or pot stickers, using a filling of scallops, or mined chicken and prawns. But I'll put a recipe up for those at another time.

What you'll need

Makes 30 ravoli. As an entree, I served three to each person.

300g packet (or 60 wrappers) gyoza wrappers, available from any Asian food shop or some supermarkets

1 cup of mashed pumpkin flesh. I roasted my pumpkin in the oven first.

100g soft goat's cheese

Salt and pepper

Fresh basil, melted butter and Parmesan cheese to serve.

What to do

Mix the pumpkin and goat's cheese in a bowl. Season well.

Lay a clean tea towel on your kitchen bench. Peel off the gyoza wrappers and lay on the tea towel. Place a heaped teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into the centre of each wrapper.

Place a small bowl of warm water next to the tea towel. Dip one or two fingers into the water. Then run your fingers around the outside margin of the gyoza wrapper, wetting it slightly all the way around. Place another wrapper on top of the pumpkin mixture and seal it with the bottom wrapper (press it together with your fingers). You can also flatten the pumpkin mixture as you go. Repeat until all the ravoli are made. 

Transfer to an air-tight container, using baking paper in between layers of ravoli, so they don't stick together.

These ravoli stay together better if you make them before-hand and then store in the fridge or freezer for cooking later. For example, make them in the morning for cooking that evening.

To cook, place a large frying pan (I use an electric frying pan) to heat and fill with salted water. Once the water is boiling, place half of the ravoli into the water. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the ravoli will stick together. Once the ravoli 'pastry' becomes transparent, the ravoli are cooked. This will take 2 or 3 minutes. Carefully remove from the water with a slotted spoon to drain the water. (The ravoli are very delicate so be careful or they will break apart.) Place the ravoli onto warmed serving plates. Cook the remaining ravoli and spoon onto serving plates.

Drizzle with some melted butter, freshly chopped basil and some grated Parmesan cheese.

These delicate, slippery ravoli are definitely a crowd-pleaser and your guests will be very impressed.