Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Roasted Peppers
Shrimp Gyoza with Ginger dipping sauce
Potato Pirozhki

What do Italian ravioli, Japanese gyoza, and Russian pirozhki have in common? All three are little pieces of dough hiding a filling. These dishes are popular all over the world because they are fun to make and fun to eat. It is a good bit of work to shape so many little packages, but it is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend time with your family and friends on a cold snowy day. You can turn on the music, and chat as you fill the little pieces of dough not only with meat, fish, and veggies, but also with care and love. It is especially fun to do with kids. Who needs play dough when there is real dough! My very first memories of the kitchen are making pirozhki with my Mom and Grandma for New Years when I was 4 years old.

Steaming ravioli, crisp gyoza, or freshly baked pirozhki are a great comfort food. Each little package of dough is like a gift with a surprise. Even if you make them yourself and know what they are filled with, it is still exciting to bite into these little packages. The very first sensation is that of the dough and then the flavor of the filling is revealed. This revelation of the secret filling happens in every bite and makes it very difficult to stop eating these treats. No matter how big I make the batch, they disappear all too quickly.

The good news is that you can make these delicious dishes quite easily if you can buy the dough instead of making it. This eliminates the hard and time-consuming part, and leaves you to enjoy shaping, cooking, and eating. Gyoza wraps are available frozen in oriental grocery stores. I use Pillsbury country biscuits to make pirozhki, and my guests never realize that the dough is not home made. Although ravioli is the least exotic dish of the three, the dough for it is the hardest to find. Many books and magazines suggest making ravioli with wonton wraps. I have tried this method several times and found the results less than satisfactory. Wonton wraps taste somewhat differently from pasta and most of them are too thin and delicate to boil. My wild goose chase for fresh pasta dough finally ended. I found it recently in the cheese section of Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market. I have made ravioli from it several times with fantastic results.

Most fillings, whether authentic or funky, are easy to make. Ravioli are great with wild mushrooms, cheese, spinach, pumpkin or butternut squash fillings. For gyoza, try pork or shrimp. Pirozhki are wonderful with mashed potatoes or sautéed cabbage. My Mom sometimes fills one pirozhok (singular for pirozhki) from the batch with a weird filling, like a preserve or minced fruit. We all make a wish before dinner and whoever gets the funny pirozhok will have the wish come true. I prefer a more practical application of this joke. Make the person who gets the funny pirozhok do dishes unless he helped cook.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Roasted Peppers
Shrimp Gyoza with Ginger dipping sauce
Potato Pirozhki