This is a fresh pasta dish we make on special occasions. The bright and earthy pasta contrasts with the vibrant, green pesto, both on the plate and on the palate.
We actually don’t share that much about filled pastas like ravioli because they’re pretty time-consuming to make. Just humor us and come along and see what you think.
You will need some special equipment. We use the food processor for this recipe. You’ll also need a pasta roller. We have one that attaches to the stand mixer. It’s much easier than a hand-crank, but one of those will do just fine. Lastly, you’ll need a fluted pastry wheel. This is the thing that you’ll use to cut the pasta. The fluted shape helps to seal the ravioli so they don’t unravel in the water as they cook.
Beet + Goat Cheese Ravioli with Parsley Pesto
Ingredients
Prep work:
1 head garlic
4 medium red beets, reserve 1 for the pasta dough
1 tablespoon olive oil
For the goat cheese filling:
10.5 ounces goat cheese
1 head roasted garlic, peeled
1 large egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
4 sprigs of thyme, stems removed
1/2 teaspoon champagne vinegar
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
For the beet pasta:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup peeled, chopped, roasted beet, about 1 medium
1 large egg
about 3 tablespoons water
For the pesto:
1 large bunch fresh parsley, long stems removed, about 2 cups
1 clove garlic
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, skins rubbed off
Juice of 1 lemon
about 1/3 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
Serves 6
Directions
Prep work:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place an unpeeled head of garlic and 4 medium beets in a covered casserole dish and drizzle this with olive oil. Place into the preheated oven for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the beets are cooked through.
3. Allow everything to cool. You’ll need these items later on for the recipes below.
For the filling:
1. In the work bowl of your food processor, place the cheese, egg, panko, thyme, and vinegar. Pulse until all ingredients are well incorporated.
2. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Scrape into a covered container and place in the fridge until needed.
3. Wash and dry the food processor in order to use it for the next step.
For the beet pasta:
1. Into the work bowl of your food processor, place the flour and beets. Let it run until the roasted beet is completely blended into the flour. The result will look like magenta sand.
2. Add the egg and blend. With the food processor running, add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a ball and runs around the container all clumped together; you’ll know when this happens.
3. Gather the ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it into the fridge to rest. Wash and dry the food processor in order to use it for the next step.
For the parsley pesto:
1. Into the work bowl of your food processor place the parsley, garlic clove, hazelnuts, lemon juice, and olive oil. Pulse until everything is broken down but still chunky. Set aside until ready to assemble the dish.
To assemble the ravioli:
1. Roll the pasta out starting at a #1 and working your way down to a #5 on your pasta roller. (Cut pasta to fit your well-floured work surface if it gets too long.) You should end up with about four 3-foot sections of pasta dough.
2. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, place about a teaspoon of filling on one half of the large pasta sheet. Leaving about the width of two fingers between each, continue to do this down the length of the pasta.
3. Fold the side that’s without filling longways over the filling and press the pasta all around the filling using the sides of your hands.
4. Using the fluted pastry wheel, cut the front edge off of the pasta and run it in between each lump of filling. The hinged side should be left as is. This will make about 30 large ravioli.
5. In batches of 10, drop ravioli into a pot of well-salted water for about 2 minutes. Using a strainer, retrieve them from the water and toss in a large bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil to keep them from sticking together.
6. Serve on a large platter garnished with the remaining beets and the pesto.
