Strawberry Basil Dessert Ravioli

Strawberries and basil are one of my favorite summer combinations.  In a salad, topping a pizza (yes, the strawberries become wonderfully jammy), and of course in dessert.  I have been playing round with fruit leather in my food dehydrator and made some crepes last weekend, but what I thought would be really wonderful was some dessert ravioli. 

Strawberry basil of course!  The combination of fresh sweet strawberries, fresh basil and coconut cream sounded heavenly inside of a strawberry "ravioli" dough. The best part is they were fairly easy to make!  I just made some "dough" from bananas, strawberries and a touch of agave nectar, put it in the dehydrator overnight and voila!  Instant ravioli wrappers!  And...so much easier (and tastier)than rolling out pasta dough! 

For the filling I used one of my favorite things in the world right now, some raw coconut cashew cream.  I mixed in fresh strawberries and fresh basil from my patio. They were so cute!  But I decided that they needed a fresh strawberry basil sauce as well, and some berries on top to complete the plate. 

Now, I have had dessert ravioli before, but nothing this tasty!  The filling was luscious, and the sauce sweet and jammy with the fragrance of basil...they were so good I ate the whole plate rather quickly (and I know the recipe serves 2 but it served one in my case).  I am not going to lie, I enjoy dessert ravioli better than real ravioli!

Raw Strawberry Basil Dessert Ravioli
2 servings

Ravioli "dough":
2 bananas
4 strawberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp agave nectar

Cream:
3/4 cup raw cashew pieces (preferably soaked overnight)
1/2 cup coconut water

3/4 cup fresh young coconut meat* (or additional soaked cashews if not available)
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and seeds of half a vanilla bean
1/4 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

Sauce and filling:

12 organic strawberries, divided
1 tsp lemon juice
6 small fresh organic basil leaves, divided
2 tsp agave nectar

For Serving:
2 organic strawberries, slices
organic basil leaves

To make ravioli rounds, combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until blended. Pour into 12 circles (about 3 inches across) on a teflex lined dehydrator sheet, and spread thin. Dehydrate for about 8 hours or until no longer wet and tacky, but still plyable. Remove from dehydrator and set aside.

To make cream, drain cashews and blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor, and set in the freezer about 30 minutes until a frosting consistency.

To make the sauce, puree 6 strawberries with lemon juice, 3 basil leaves and agave nectar until smooth and set aside. 

Add to the cream: 1 Tbsp of the sauce, the other 3 basil leaves (chopped), and the remaining 6 strawberries (chopped small).  Mix to blend.

To assemble, place ravioli round on your work surface then top with about 2 tsp of strawberry cream filling. Top with another ravioli round, and press the edges together. Repeat with the other rounds until you have six ravioli.  To plate, drizzle some sauce on each of two plates, then place 3 ravioli on each.  Drizzle each with some more sauce, top with a few strawberry slices and some fresh basil.  Serve!