Ravioles

Name: Ravioles
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Cypriot
Ingredients: Plain flour; Gram flour; Whole eggs; Olive oil; Fresh halloumi; Anari; Fresh mint; Black pepper; Chicken stock; Salt

565 kcal a serving, against 604 for the traditional version. That is 39 kcal off, or 6%, with 30.6g of protein. Serves 6. 1 hour 20 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Ravioles is pasta stuffed with a simple mixture: grated fresh halloumi, a bit of egg to bind, chopped fresh mint, black pepper, and nothing else. The pasta's made from plain flour, eggs, sometimes a splash of oil. Once shaped, the ravioli are boiled straight in spiced chicken stock, sometimes with cinnamon. The finish is a bit of stock ladled over and more cheese grated on top for good measure.

What changed, and what each change costs

150g halloumi swapped for 150g anari in the filling (so it's 200g halloumi, 150g anari)

Anari's not an import - it's the whey cheese you get from making halloumi, and every Cypriot kitchen has it. It's lighter, mild, and still tastes of the same milk, just less intensely salty. Swapping some halloumi for anari means less fat, a bump in protein, and softer filling that soaks in more of the broth.

What it costs you. You lose some squeak and saltiness, and if you're the sort who lives for pure halloumi, you'll notice. But the filling's creamier and the flavour is still unmistakably Cypriot. If you want the full bounce, just go back to all halloumi and accept your fate.

80g plain flour replaced with 80g gram-flour in the pasta

Gram flour is pure chickpea, full of protein and works surprisingly well in pasta if you mix it with white flour. The dough's still workable and you get a subtle nutty edge (which most people won't clock unless you tell them).

What it costs you. The pasta's a bit less delicate, and you might get a whisper of earthiness here and there. It isn't a disaster, just a little less smooth than the original all-white dough.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Plain flour
Gram flour
Whole eggs
Olive oil
Fresh halloumi
Anari
Fresh mint
Black pepper
Chicken stock
Salt

How it starts

Mix the plain flour, gram flour and salt in a large bowl.
Grate the halloumi and crumble the anari.
Roll the dough as thin as you can manage (aim for about 2mm), and cut into strips.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Cypriot.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	604	565
Protein	32.6g	30.6g
Fat	23.6g	21.3g
Saturated fat	12.1g	9.8g
Carbohydrate	63g	60.6g
Protein per 100 kcal	5.4g	5.4g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Cypriot prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, eggs, milk.

The method is in the book

Swapping in anari is the first trick any Cypriot with half an eye on the waistline will use. It isn't fake cheese, it's proper, and it keeps the filling from getting heavy. The gram flour? A cheat, maybe, but it actually belongs here if you want more protein without losing out on a decent bite. The original is richer and more decadent, but you're not getting a sad bowl. You could go even further and try all-anari filling, but then you'll miss the point. This is still ravioles, just with a bit less regret.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Cypriot, along with 47 more. Buy the paperback