Some of the best ravioli I had was filled with pumpkin, served with a brown butter sauce. I had it at a restaurant. They were a larger size than the usual ravioli. If I was ambitious and could do thing with dough (both a nay) I would try crab or a mix of crab and some other things.
I'm sure you'll do fine without dairy, asian dumplings don't have it for the most part and they are yummy! You could also add soft tofu for some of the creaminess of dairy, but not the taste. Tofu would need to be mixed with other more flavorful ingredients.
Sounds like a lot of fun!

I agree, Elery and I made ravioli with a butternut sqush filling and served it with a sage and butter sauce, it was quite tasty and no cheese at all.

I just roll out a chunk of pasta dough, cut it into strips about a foot long and 3 inches wide, dollop a spoon full of filling on the right side of the dough, and do that down the length of the dough. Maybe 6 or 7 dollops, more if they are small. Wet the edges of the pasta with a brush and fold the pasta over the filling, press edges with a fork and press between the dabs of filling (I put a brush of water there too, between each dab. Cut between the filling "dabs", seal the edges with a fork and cook 'em.

As for equipment, I bought Elery a pasta roller and I use that to make the strips of dough sometimes but the ravioli attachment is impossible and time consuming and pretty much useless.

They are relatively simple but I think they're fussy and so I probably won't make them in any large amounts. Elery and I did a bunch for his family's Christmas and I definitely did not think they were worth the effort, but everyone who didn't have to make the blasted things loved them. I ate exactly one. Eh.

I know some people here, maybe Chase, makes them with wonton wrappers but I haven't tried that.

Annie

I would probably use some silken tofu or other non dairy cheese to add that creaminess. I know squash fillings are the usual non dairy, but I don't like them much.

Under a blanket of tomato sauce, the tofu will be easily disguised.

I sometimes do a filling that includes sauteed mushrooms with spinach. Generally, I saute a bit of onion before I saute the mushrooms and then add the spinach to the pan last and cook it just enough to wilt it down. Then I let it drain in a colander to remove excess water before using it as a filler. You can add cooked bacon or prosciutto to this as well, but if the bacon is too crisp, it can cut through the ravioli wrappers. Another good filling is broccoli, but it must be chopped finely enough. Artichoke hearts work well also.

Lars

I made ravioli for valentine's. I chopped some king prawns and scollops, mixed them with some cream cheese but you could leave that out, added salt, pepper and garlic. You could serve that with a light tomato sauce. I served it with garlic butter with a squirt of lemon juice but no dairy for you!

Chopped chicken and herbs makes a lovely filling too. You could add a little egg to bind if you thought it necessary.

I like just plain meat raviolis served with tomato sauce. Make a mixture similar to a meatball mixture, using a combo of beef and pork, but moister and looser. You can add spinach if you want. I don't.

For the pasta I use won ton wrappers, no fuss no muss. Just lay a bunch down, spoon on a bit of filling, wet the edges, lay another wrapper over and pinch to seal or use a fork to crimp.

They freeze beautifully and can be cooked from frozen.

When ready to cook place in salted boiling water but they don;t take long only minutes.

Sorry for posting and going MIA - but I got sick with a nasty bug and cooking was the last thing on my mind.

I really appreciate the input. I think I'm going to go the meatball mixture route.

Chase I was really surprised to see my store actually sold won-ton wrappers so I decided to give those a try. Only one kind. They are somewhat big though ~4" sq so if I put another wrapper over won't that give me mega sized raviolis or is that what you normally do?

Also only cooking a few minutes - does the filling get completely cooked too with that?

WOW 4 " square....the one I use are smaller than that, maybe 2 1/2 by 2 1/2.

You can always fold them in a triangular shape instead of square. or use a pie crimper to crimp and cut off some of the edges.

I don't use a lot of filling, teaspoon maybe, and make sure the water is at a rolling boil. Never had an issue with the filling not cooking.

When I was in Naples,FL, a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a couple of Italian ravioli "stamps" at SurLa Table. One 2.5" round and a 3" square. Now that I have my red Hobart back here, I'm going to try using these stamps.

chase - thanks for clarifying that part - I thought that would be some mega sized ones. Ok, will put small amounts to not have issues then.

I'll probably try the fold over part then (triangle) or I could cut them in half.

I ended up making them this past weekend. I did a meatball filling and Marinara sauce over them. I used the won-ton wrappers and folded in a triangle for the lunch batch. I did pillows for the freezer batch and that's how I'll do them in the future as they took less time to fold.

The won-ton wrappers were really a nice way to do it.

My husband came in from the shop for lunch and looked at them and said you made these with a grin and said he really liked them and my daughter had Ravioli for the first time and after each bite she went "yoli yummy". (She's 2 and loves food).

Here is a pic of her plate:
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and here of the 2nd batch that I finished after lunch for the freezer.
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Not the best quality pics and I'm not a food artist or even know how to make them look good/appetizing on pics.

Well they sure look great to me! No need to be a food artist when you serve up such yummy looking food.

I'm seriously impressed with your two year old,s plate...good eater!

Glad they worked out for you.