So this project started as me having a craving for these amazing little pumpkin pastas that they had a while back at a certain IGA across town, and which i can't find anywhere nearby.
i was looking online for ravioli recipes, since i know that it is possible to make raviolis at home and i thought, screw it, i will try to make my own pumpkin pasta.
it turns out based on what i found that pasta dough and wonton or gyoza wrappers are virtually the same thing (give or take some water). since i've been wanting to try to make wantons, or pot stickers, i was thrilled to see i could combine my two projects into one. and reduce myself the trouble of trying to roll out pasta dough in my tiny kitchen.
turns out huge success! i made butter nut squash, carrot, and rabbit pot stickers, and served them with their own gravy they were unbelievable. i ate easy a dozen in one sitting.
Here's how i did it. (please excuse my camera phone for taking shitty quality images)
scratch the sweet potato, although i think sweet potato would have been good too, it felt like too much food already as it was. the wonton wrappers only take a tsp of stuffing so you need to think about how much you are realistically making. One package of wonton wrappers with enough stuffing to fill them all easily makes a good meal, or a number of appetizers. also the celery was too floppy so it got scratched too.
i ended up with squash, rabbit, carrots, garlic, spring onions, and curry, turmeric, cinnamon, brown sugar, i don't know some other stuff.
it should have had ginger that would have been good, cashews would have been good too. or maybe raisins. anyway i went kind of east indian inspired for the stuffing though clearly you could really adapt this dish a hundreds ways.
i chopped it all up, cooked the squash and carrots in the garlic with a little olive oil, and a tbsp of vegetable stock paste in a dutch oven. then floured and browned the rabbit quickly and threw it in, and then added enough water to nearly cover all the vegetables, and popped it in the oven with the meat tucked into the water, at 375 for about 45 minutes. the sauce should be reduced and rabbit and vegetables all cooked.
i drained and conserved all the remaining sauce, and squeezed as much of it out of the vegetables as possible. then cut all the meat off the bones, and chopped it up and mixed it in with the finely chopped veg.
lay out your little wanton pappers, which you have thawed to room temperature while everything was cooking. put a teaspoon of your mixture in the center, moisten around the edge with water and seal the two side together.
once you've made then all (this is a bit long, but kind of fun), you heat up a little bit of olive oil in a skillet with a lid (this is crucial) and then pop in enough dumplings that they all lay flat. cook 1-2 minutes or until brown on both sides. then toss in a 1/3 cup of water and cover with the lid. simmer until all the water is evaporated, turning once so that they get evenly cooked.
after they were cooked i drizzled some of the reduced cooking sauce from the oven, and they were fantastic. i tried dipping them in plum sauce, not sure if plum sauce is really the thing for these ones, they are good simply with the their own sauce alone, but i think they would also bet great dipped in some kind of hot sauce, or soy sauce, or peanut sauce.
for dessert i tossed some chopped bananas and chocolate chips into the few remaining gyoza wrappers.
After this experience i would highly recommend trying out making dumplings or potstickers. if you never have before there is really nothing to worry about they are idiot proof. clearly you could dumpling pretty much anything, and why not? wonton wrappers are insanely cheap at your local asian food store. and it turns out they are insanely easy to make too. it seems you can also use them as suitable ravioli noodle replacement, just fill with whatever you want and pop in boiling water instead of frying first. top with sauce.
enjoy!
