Ravioli recipe number four for the Ravioli Challenge that my sister set me. This has a different pasta to the others, but a simple filling and it sticks with the lemon sauce from the Lemon and Garlic Chicken Ravioli on day 2. The first batch of these had purple basilic from my balcony mixed din with the Fromage Blanc (homemade!), but thanks to Little Bit's gardening efforts there wasn't much of that. The rest was made (unfortunately) with dried basilic. I also experimented with a little garlic powder in some of the filling. I used date syrup in the sauce, but I suspect that honey or molasses would do just as well, the flavour would just be a little different.
Ingredients:
For the pasta:
3 beets, roasted until soft
3 c flour
2 eggs
For the filling:
2 1/2 c fromage blanc or other cream cheese
A large bunch of fresh basilic, minced (purple if possible. In a pinch dried will work too
Salt to taste
(Optional 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
For the Sauce:
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp date syrup
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Mash roasted beets as smooth as possible. Place flour in a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Beat them into the flour gradually, then add the beets and mix to form a soft, elastic dough.
2) Make the filling: mix the cream cheese with the basilic (fresh or dried), the salt and the garlic powder if using.
3) Pass fist-sized pieces of dough through progressively higher settings on a pasta maker until thin. Use a ravioli mould to make hollows in the sheet of pasta and place 1/2 tsp of filling in each. Place a second pasta sheet over the top, seal and cut. (Alternatively use a ravioli cutter).
4) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli and boil for a few minutes before draining them. Careful: fresh pasta cooks fast!
5) Make the sauce: Over low heat, mix all ingredients together. Stir and allow to cook for a few minutes. Drizzle over the top of the ravioli.
I really liked the flavour combos in this one (like I didn't in the others?). They seemed fresh and zesty and not too heavy. Four types of ravioli in a week was a bit of a challenge, especially with Little One around, but it was fun and really interesting to challenge myself to come up with the different flavour profiles while sticking within the parameters my sister set me for the challenge. And having sat and thought on ravioli quite a lot for a week, I have a few more ideas I want to try out! Watch this space!
In case you want to try making these but don't have a pasta machine , pasta tree or a ravioli cutter, click on the links to get one of your own! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.