Ingredients
| 1 batch fresh egg pasta dough (see recipe) | |
| FOR THE BEETROOT DOUGH | |
| 70g canned baby beetroot | |
| 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk | |
| 200g ‘00’ flour | |
| 50g semola flour (superfine semolina) | |
| FOR THE FILLING | |
| 250g ricotta | |
| 50g goat’s cheese | |
| 20g finely grated parmesan | |
| 1 tablespoon lemon juice | |
| salt and pepper to taste | |
| FOR THE HERB BUTTER | |
| 115g unsalted butter, softened | |
| 4 garlic cloves, minced | |
| 40g finely grated parmesan | |
| ½ cup fresh herbs, chopped (I used parsley, thyme and rosemary) | |
| a pinch of salt, to taste | |
| TO SERVE | |
| 1 x 450g can sliced beetroot | |
| olive oil | |
| ½ cup pistachios, roughly chopped |
I’m not going to lie, this is a real labour of love; but I promise you it is not hard at all, it just takes some time. When making something like this with multiple doughs, a filling plus different elements for plating, I try to think of some shortcuts. Here, instead of roasting beetroots which would add even more time, I opt for canned beetroot. If you don’t have a mould, use the dough to make any kind of ravioli you like. For information on the pasta moulds Emilie uses, see Design Files.
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Instructions
| 1. | Make the fresh egg pasta dough and set aside to rest. |
| 2. | Make the beetroot dough by blending the beetroot with the eggs until smooth (I use a smoothie maker, but a stick blender or processor will work as long as no chunks of beetroot remain). |
| 3. | Make the pasta dough exactly the same as the fresh egg dough by making a well in the flour and mixing in the beetroot/egg mixture. Set aside to rest. |
| 4. | Make the filling by blending all the ingredients together and placing them into a piping bag (or a sealable bag with the corner trimmed). |
| 5. | Once the doughs have rested for at least 30 minutes you can start to assemble. Divide each dough into four batches. |
| 6. | Working with a quarter of the beetroot dough, roll it to setting 6 on a pasta roller, then cut out a variety of different- sized circles: I do a mix of 5cm, 3cm and 1½ cm circles but use whatever you have – cookie cutters, piping bag tips or just freehand some shapes. |
| 7. | Place them on a tray lined with baking paper and cover with a wet tea towel. |
| 8. | Roll out a quarter of the yellow dough to setting 6, then place the pink shapes all over the yellow sheet, in whatever pattern you like. |
| 9. | Press them lightly into the dough then roll gently with a rolling pin, dust with flour and roll through the roller at setting 4 then through each setting up to setting 7 (that is the second to thinnest on my machine). |
| 10. | If using a mould, cut squares of dough slightly bigger than the mould. |
| 11. | Dust the front of the pasta liberally with flour then lay it over the mould, face down. |
| 12. | Use your fingers or a pastry brush to press the dough down into the hollows of the mould, then pipe in the filling. |
| 13. | Place the second sheet of dough on top, face up, and gently roll with a rolling pin then flip it over and press as hard as you can. |
| 14. | Lift the mould off and cut round the edges. |
| 15. | Repeat with the remaining batches of dough. |
| 16. | If you don’t have a mould, simply cut out circles of dough, put a dollop of filling in the middle then fold it in half and seal the edges. |
| 17. | The ravioli can be kept on the kitchen bench under some plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes, or on a tray lined with baking paper and heavily dusted with coarse semolina and stored in the fridge (but I find fresh pasta gets quite sticky in the fridge). |
| 18. | I usually make them a day ahead then freeze them open on a tray then transfer to a container to cook from frozen. |
| 19. | To make the herb butter, mix all the ingredients together then form into a log with plastic wrap and refrigerate. |
| 20. | Heat the oven to 180°C. |
| 21. | Arrange the beetroot slices on a tray, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before roasting in the oven for 15 minutes. |
| 22. | Melt the herb butter in a frying pan. |
| 23. | Bring a pan of water to the boil and salt it liberally. Cook the ravioli for 2½ minutes. |
| 24. | Transfer them straight into the butter and let them gently simmer for a minute. |
| 25. | Serve 1-2 per person on top of the roasted beetroot slices and scatter the chopped pistachios around. |
Recipes & food styling Emilie Pullar / Photography Tony Nyberg / Art direction Fiona Lascelles