Impress your guests by making them these little fried pockets of ricotta and shiitake deliciousness. Crispy homemade stuffed wontons, with vegan ricotta and sautéed shiitake mushrooms dipped into a tart and tangy cranberry orange sauce. These appetizers couldn't be more enticing.
As the holidays approach, we all have visions of stuffing, cheese plates, and a ton of traditional foods . And while that may all be well and good, I’m craving something different.
As much as I adore the typical seasonal foods mentioned above, sometimes you need to shake it up and step out of the box.
VEGAN APPETIZERS TO SERVE AT A PARTY
Linda and I love to throw a good party. Whether it's a small happy hour with our closest friends, or a large soiree to celebrate something special, like my bridal shower. We call ourselves the Vegan Martha Stewarts. LOL!
We love everything about hosting a get together.
Creating a theme, decorating the table and the house, and of course, making delicious vegan food that our non-vegan guests love is our passion. If they ask for the recipes (they always do) at the end of the night, we know the party was a success.
Some of our favorites from the past years are our Onion Confit Tartlets , and our Oven Fried Parmesan Zucchini Crips.
This year, our guests are in for another delectable appetizer. Our crispy and savory vegan stuffed wontons with the most incredible cranberry dipping sauce.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN WONTON WRAPPERS
We haven't been able to find vegan wonton wrappers in the grocery stores where we live, so we make our own. It's really easy and you only need 4 ingredients to make them.
This recipe can be found in our second cookbook, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. Can I just give my mom and I a quick pat on the back? I just read the reviews that have come in, and the one recipe that a review mentioned was one of ours. 🙂
The reviewer made our Drop Biscuit Root Vegetable Pot Pie and said it was "fantastic."
Back to the wonton wrappers. 😉
We won't make you buy our cookbook to get the recipe. That wouldn't be fair. Although, we think you'd love it! Read all about it here.
STEP ONE
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- Whisk the Vegan Egg and water until it's creamy and thick.
STEP TWO
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. Then add the egg mixture and fold until combined. Add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough forms a solid ball. Cover with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.
STEP THREE
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes then form it into a ball, put it back in the bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
STEP FOUR
4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and roll out one piece on a floured surface until it's paper thin. Cut into 4-inch (10-cm) circles. We use a round cookie cutter. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
VEGAN RICOTTA AND SHIITAKE MUSHROOM FILLING FOR WONTONS
Now that you're wontons are ready, it's time to make the filling.
We have a few wonderful vegan ricotta options for you.
You can buy our favorite store bought ricotta. Kite Hill's Ricotta is amazing! We buy ours at Whole Foods. Some stores sell it in the vegan cheese section and some sell it in the artisan cheese section of the store. Ask for it and an employee should be able to direct you to the right spot.
If you can't find Kite Hill's cheese, you can make our HOMEMADE ALMOND RICOTTA . It’s super easy to make and is a spot-on vegan-copycat for ricotta. One other option: if you have a nut allergy you can make some awesome tofu-ricotta recipes! All you have to do is turn to Pinterest to find one.
Alternative Fillings for Stuffed Wontons
Lastly, if you can't or won't eat nuts or tofu, you can fill the wontons with mashed potato & scallions. We suggest sauteing the scallions with a bit of olive oil before combining them with the mashed potatoes.
Here's a wonderful Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato recipe. Just make sure you peel the potatoes, as this recipe is more rustic.
How to Make Stuffed Wontons
The filling is super easy to make.
STEP ONE
- Prepare the mushrooms, shallots, and rosemary. Make sure to finely dice the vegetables and rosemary so they are almost completely incorporated in the ricotta when mixed. You don't want big pieces of mushrooms or shallots.
STEP TWO
2. In a large bowl, mix the mushroom mixture and the ricotta together until completely combined.
STEP THREE
3. Assemble the wontons.
HOW TO FILL WONTONS
STEP ONE
- To assemble these gorgeous pockets of flavor, pop a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture onto a wonton. Simply brush the edges of the wonton with water and fold according to these pictures.
Place the filling in the middle of the wonton and brush the edges with water.
Pinch one edge of the wonton.
Add one more pinch next to your previous fold.
For the last fold, pull the middle part of the other side of the wonton towards the center and pinch closed.
HOW TO FRY STUFFED WONTONS
When you heat your skillet to medium high heat, regardless of whether you believe you should add the oil before or after the pan is heated, ALWAYS heat your oil before adding your ingredients. Cold oil plus cold ingredients just won’t work. You'll end up with soggy and greasy food.
STEP ONE
- Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet or a heavy frying pan.
STEP TWO
2. Test the oil to make sure it's hot by adding a small piece of a wonton wrapper to the oil. If it sizzles and bubbles, it's ready. When it's hot, add the wontons (don't pile them in, they should have room to cook) and fry for approximately two minutes per side, or until the entire wonton is golden brown and crispy.
STEP THREE
3. Take them out of the pan and place them on a cooling rack that's lined with paper towel. This allows the excess oil to drip off.
NOTE: If you're not serving immediately, keep them warm and crispy in a warm (not hot) oven until ready to serve.
Finish them off by sliding them onto a paper-towel-lined plate and top with salt!
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE CRANBERRY DIPPING SAUCE
STEP ONE
- In a small sauce pan, bring the cranberries, sugar, and orange juice to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries pop and become soft, approximately 20 minutes.
STEP TWO
2. Let them cool for about 15 minutes and then strain them over a small bowl.
This is such a festive recipe for the holidays. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them and then pop them in a 375F oven and heat until they're crispy and hot in the middle.
Make this recipe and let us know what you think. We love to hear from you! And, don’t forget to take a picture of your gorgeous creation and tag us @veganosity on Instagram.
Let’s connect! Hop on over to our Facebook page and give it a like, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and follow us and share this and other Veganosity recipes on Pinterest. We'd be so grateful if you did. If you like this recipe and can't wait to see what we're going to share next, subscribe to Veganosity. Just fill in the subscription box above our picture in the top right corner of the page. And, Alex and I love hearing from you, please leave a comment and let us know what you think of our recipes.
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Vegan Ricotta and Shiitake Stuffed Wonton Purses- Dairy Free
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING
- 16 ounces Kite Hill Ricotta Or see below in ingredients for link to our recipe
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 shallots minced
- 2 tablespoon rosemary minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ cup water
FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 oranges juiced
FOR THE WONTONS
- 2 tablespoon vegan egg substitute We use Follow Your Heart brand
- 1 ¼ cups water divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling and kneading the dough
- ½ teaspoon sea salt finely ground
FOR FRYING
- 2 cups vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the vegan egg and ¾ cup (180 ml) of the water until thick and creamy.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour and salt together until combined. Add the egg and fold until combined. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the remaining ½ cup (120 ml) water at a time until the dough forms a solid ball. Don't over water or it will be sticky. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- On a floured surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes and pat it into a ball. Put it in the bowl and cover it. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough and roll out one section on a floured surface until it's paper thin. You want to roll it until it's just about to become translucent. Cut into a 4-inch (10-cm) circle with a cookie cutter. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Cranberry-Orange Dipping Sauce
- In a small sauce pan, bring the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to a rolling boil.
- Once boiling, bring the temperature down to a simmer and allow the cranberries and orange juice to cook for twenty minutes.
- Add the salt and stir until well combined.
- Place a strainer above a bowl and put the cranberries and orange juice mixture in the strainer.
- Stir the cranberry mixture in the strainer until all the juices have fallen through the strainer.
- Set the sauce aside.
FOR THE WONTONS
Stuffed Wontons
- In a medium sized skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil on medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is heated, add the mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and rosemary. Sauté until mushrooms are browned, approximately six min.
- When the mushrooms are done browning, put them in a bowl with the ricotta, salt, and pepper. Mix until well incorporated.
TO MAKE THE WONTONS
- Lay the wontons on a well-floured surface.
- Put a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each wonton.
- We the outer edges of the wonton and lightly brush the edges of the wonton with water to make it sticky so it will stay closed. Pinch one side of the wonton, then the opposite side, then for the last fold, pull the middle part of the other side of the wonton towards the center and pinch closed. See the photos in the post for a visual.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Make sure that the oil is approximately ¾ inch to 1 inch high.
- When the oil is hot (do not add the wontons unless the oil sizzles when you add a pinch of dough to test), carefully add the wontons in batches making sure that they do not touch each other.
- Turn the wontons after about 2 minutes in the oil or until golden brown in color. Do the same with the second side then remove and place on a paper-towel lined plate.
- Repeat the above instructions until all the wontons are fried.
Christien @ Run Plant Based says
Wow, these look amazing and perfect for holiday parties. Thanks! I was so excited when I got to try vegan won ton wrappers recently, nice that more companies are making them now.
Linda Meyer says
Thank you! They are so good! Not something we eat often, but perfect for a party or holiday treat.