BEET FILLED RAVIOLI FROM THE DOLOMITES

By BobD

Ingredients

• interesting.
• to very colorful red filling will show nicely through the dough once cooked. You may omit the ricotta and add some cooked pancetta or even bacon to the stuffing if you like a little bit of smoked flavor.
• FILLING
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1 1 tbsp chopped sage
• 1 1 1 tbsp minced rosemary
• 1 1 1 cup diced yellow onions
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 lb beets, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups diced parsnips
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups diced Yukon gold potatoes
• 2 2 2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (8 oz)
• 2/3 2/3 2/3 cup drained fresh ricotta (optional)
• 1 1 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
• Pinch Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, as needed
• 3 3 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs, or as needed
• PASTA DOUGH
• 2 3/4 2 3/4 3/4 cups all-purpose or “00” flour (11 oz)
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup semolina (durum) flour (5 oz)
• 4 4 4 large eggs
• 1 1 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 3 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 6 6 6 sage leaves
• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
• 2 2 2 tbsp poppy seeds, or as needed

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

To make the filling, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt (it
should foam up but shouldn’t darken in color). Add the parsley, sage, and rosemary. Sauté just long enough to heat the herbs, about 20 seconds. Add the onions and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the beets, parsnips, and potatoes and pour in enough water to cover the vegetables about halfway.

Cover, bring the liquid to a simmer, and continue to simmer, adjusting the heat level as necessary, until all of the vegetables are tender enough to mash easily with a fork, about 45 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let the vegetables cool before chopping them finely with a knife
or in a food processor. They should be fairly smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, ricotta (if desired), the orange zest, cinnamon, and salt
and pepper and stir with a wooden spoon until blended. Stir in the egg yolks. The filling
should be firm enough to mound when dropped from a spoon. If it is soft enough to run
off the spoon, add some of the bread crumbs to help it hold together. Reserve in the
refrigerator while you prepare the pasta dough.

To make the pasta dough, mound the flours on a clean surface or combine them in the
bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Create a well in the center and place the eggs and oil in the center. Using a fork, whisk the eggs and oil together and slowly start dragging the flour into the egg mixture. If the dough is too dry, you may sprinkle it with a little cold water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a manageable dough.

Knead well by hand or with the mixer until all the ingredients are well combined and the dough seems smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes if working by hand, about 5 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook).

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a covered bowl and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Set up a pasta machine and set it to the largest opening. Dust a work surface with flour.

Cut off pieces of dough about the size of an egg. Working with one piece of dough at a
time, roll the dough into 4 sheets about 1/8 inch thick.

5. Lay one of the sheets flat on a lightly floured work surface. Use a pastry brush to lightly wet one side of the dough. Spoon the filling onto the wet side of the dough, mounding about 2 tablespoons of the filling for each ravioli. There should be about 2 inches between the mounds so that you can cut individual ravioli.

Place a second pasta sheet on top of the
first one. Press the dough together to seal the sheets together along the edges and around the filling, creating little pockets of filling.

Use a fluted or plain biscuit cutter to cut out
round ravioli. As you cut out the ravioli, place them on a plate or baking sheet sprinkled
with a little flour to keep them from sticking.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli all at once and stir a
few times to separate them. Cook uncovered at a gentle boil until the pasta is just tender to the bite, 5 to 6 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter with the sage leaves in a small skillet over medium heat until the butter takes on a brown color.

Drain the ravioli immediately through a colander. Serve at once from a heated serving
bowl or in individual pasta plates topped with the butter-sage sauce.

Sprinkle with cheese and poppy seeds.