Eggs. Flour. Beetroot. A pinch of passion and love. These are the ingredients for this colorful and pleasing homemade beet ravioli, filled with goat cheese and ricotta and covered in a browned butter sauce with thyme.
Like flowers on a plate, this is a great and versatile dish to celebrate Mother’s Day, International Women’ day, a bridal shower, a Valentine’s dinner, a special date.These pink ravioli are then simply tossed with browned butter, fresh thyme and Parmesan cheese. In every bite you will savor the thin homemade pasta that encloses a creamy goat cheese ricotta filling. the richness of the cheese fits perfectly with the hint of herbaceous taste given from the thyme.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS DISH
– It’s a great pasta project and a great activity to do with your kids and mom.
– Beet Ravioli is a rewarding dish: pleasing to the eyes and delicious to the palate.
– If you love making homemade pasta, this is a great way to step up your skills.
– It is a recipe that has its roots in the Veneto region, where beets are used in various dishes.
Why did I use beetroot in homemade pasta?
Beetroot is an important ingredient in some recipes of the Veneto region, it is mostly used in fresh pasta fillings or to make a risotto. The most famous dish is Casunziei, a typical recipe from Cortina d’ Ampezzo, a ski resort in the Dolomites.
Casunziei, a fresh egg pasta, which take its name from the dialect caseus (cheese), and it is filled with which ricotta and beets. While the ones from Cortina are the most popular, there are several variations: in Belluno they are filled with pumpkin, in Verona with spinach and beets.
I took inspiration from this recipe, but wanted to make a more colorful pasta, so the beets are in the pasta dough and the filling is ricotta with goat cheese, which complements the delicate flavor of the dish. The dressing is a classic browned butter, flavored with thyme.
HOW RO MAKE BEETROOT PASTA RAVIOLI FILLED WITH GOAT’S CHEESE AND RICOTTA
1. MAKE THE PASTA DOUGH
First, preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Once the oven has reached the desired temperature, place a medium beetroot, pricked with a fork and wrapped in aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until you can easily pierce it with a fork.
Leave it to cool. Peel the beet and puree it in a food processor. Once pureed, add the flour, egg yolks and egg whites. Also add a pinch of salt and keep mixing until a dough forms.
Take the dough and knead it on a floured surface until it is elastic. You will know when you make an impression with your finger and the dough will rise almost immediately.
Cover it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
2. MAKE THE FILLING
In a bowl, combine the goat cheese, ricotta cheese, thyme and some black pepper and mix until combined. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
3. MAKE THE PASTA SHEETS
Take the pasta dough out of the fridge, divide dough into 4 pieces and using a rolling pin, start flattening one piece of the dough. Cover the other with a discarded linen towel to prevent it from drying out.
Once your dough is flat, run it through a pasta maker machine starting from the widest settings, then adjust to the next narrower setting and run again the dough. Continue your way up until you obtain a thin dough sheet. Usually it takes 4 runs through the pasta machine to obtain the correct thickness. You will know it is the right thickness when you will do the window test. Take your pasta dough and hold it in your hands against the window. If you see your hand through, the dough is ready for the next steps. If not, pass it one more time.
You will end up with a long sheet of pasta that you cut in half.
4. Put in the filling and make the ravioli
Spread some semolina flour on your countertop and place the sheet of dough on top. Semolina flour will prevent the pasta sheet to stick. Place the ravioli filling in a pocket and put about a walnut sized amount of filling on the flattened sheet. The space between each filling should be about 1 ½ inches so you have enough room to cut the ravioli.
Overlap the other half of the sheet, using your hands to make sure you remove all the air as you press around each filling to close it. Now take your ravioli stamp and cut the pasta into ravioli. If you do not have a ravioli cutter, you could also use a biscuit cutter. Transfer the ravioli on a baking tray covered with parchment paper sprinkled with semolina flour.
Continue with the rest of the 3 pieces of dough.
5. Cook the ravioli
Now that your beets pasta is ready, it is time to have these homemade ravioli taking a bath in boiling salted water! Bring a large pot of water to roaring boil, add 2 tbsp of salt and gently dip the ravioli in the pasta water with a slotted spoon. They will need 5-7 minutes to cook and you will know when they will float on the surface.
While your beets ravioli are cooking, melt butter in a sauce pan, let it brown and add some thyme.
With a slotted spoon transfer the ravioli onto a plate, pour some dressing on top, decorate with edible flowers and serve it.
MANGIA! And CELEBRATE!
MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES FOR YOU
Beet and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Torta Pasqualina (Savoury Italian Easter Cake)
Traditional Italian Tiramisu Recipe
Variations for Beet Pasta Ravioli
This recipe is very peculiar in itself, another variation would be to add different fresh herbs.
Another addition would be to add some poppy seeds on top, like we do in Veneto.
You can replace half of the ricotta with mascarpone for a richer taste.
Suggestions for serving Beet Ravioli filled with Goat Cheese & Ricotta
You can serve it as a main course. Start with a Strawberry Ricotta Bruschetta and follow with a dessert such as Strawberry Tart with Mascarpone Cream.
Storage Suggestion
This dish is best consumed as soon as it is ready. The filling cannot be stored as ricotta is perishable, while the pastry can be kept in the fridge up to 4 weeks.
Which wine to pair with it Beet Pasta Ravioli Filled with goat cheese and ricotta
I recommend a white wine for this dish, as it will not overpower the flavor of the dish. A good choice is a Sauvignon from the Friuli region, a dry and ripe wine with notes of lemon and grass, which goes perfectly with the beets and the goat ingredients.
Another alternative is Soave from the hills of Verona, which has notes of peach and marjoram, along with a certain minerality given by the volcanic area where the grapes are grown. Its composition is ideal to accentuate the goat cheese filling.
Ingredients
- 2 cup flour
- 2 eggs yolk
- 2 eggs white
- 2/3 pound beet
- ½ cup ricotta
- 3/4 cup goat cheese
- 2 tbsp Parmesan
- 3 tsp thyme
- 3 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 sprigs thyme
Instructions
1.Make the pasta dough:
- First, preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Once the oven has reached the desired temperature, place a medium beetroot, pricked with a fork and wrapped in aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until you can easily pierce it with a fork.
- Leave to cool. Peel and puree it. Once pureed, add the flour, 2 egg yolks and 2 egg whites. Also add a pinch of salt and keep mixing until a dough forms.
- Take the dough and knead it on a floured surface until it is elastic. You will know when you make an impression with your finger and the dough will rise almost immediately. Cover it in plastic and place it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
2. Make the filling:
- In a bowl, combine the goat cheese, ricotta, 3 tsp thyme and some pepper and mix until combined. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
3. Making the pasta sheets:
- Take the pasta dough out of the fridge, divide it into 4 pieces and using a rolling pin, start flattening one piece of the dough. Cover the other with a linen towel to prevent it from drying out.
- Once your dough is flat, run it through a pasta machine starting at 0 (less thin) to a thickness of 5 (thinner). You will end up with a long sheet that you cut in half.
4. Place the filling and make the ravioli:
- Now place the filling in a pocket and put about a walnut-sized amount of filling on the flattened sheet. The space between each filling should be about 1 ½ inch so you have enough room to cut the ravioli.
- Overlap the other half of the sheet, using your end to make sure you remove all the air as you press around each filling to close it.
- Now take your ravioli shaping tool and cut the pasta into ravioli.
- Continue with steps 3 and 4 using the rest of the pasta dough, that you have under the linen towel.
5. Cook the Ravioli and Make the Sauce
- Bring a large pot to boil, add 2 tbsp of salt and gently dip the ravioli with a slotted spoon. They will need 5-7 minutes to cook and you will know when they will float on the surface.
- While your beets ravioli are cooking, warm up some butter in a saucepan, let it brown and add 3 sprigs of time thyme. With a slotted spoon transfer the ravioli onto a plate, pour some dressing on top, decorate with edible flowers and serve it. MANGIA and ENJOY!
Nutrition
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Aspetto fantastico e sapore eccezionale!