red beet ravioli

These were not easy and quick to make BUT really worth it! I made the beet pasta let, it rest and thought to myself.....beet filling? Too much. SO i went with my favourite spinach & ricotta filling i always use at home so that it has some great flavour and beautiful colour contrast!

Make the filling first so that it has time to cool before using in your pasta dough:-

300g frozen spinach, defrosted and all excess water squeezed out
300g ricotta cheese
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped ( i don't have a crusher!)
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chicken stock powder

Heat the oil over a gentle heat and add the onions, cook until translucent. Add the garlic, and spinach and cook until incorporated, just a few minutes. Add the chicken stock and season to taste with a little salt & pepper. Put aside in a bowl to cool while you make your pasta dough!

I found over at Dirty Kitchen Secrets a recipe for Beetroot Ravioli! I made the recipe with a little extra 50g beet puree than her recommended 150g as it was too dry for me to work with as it was and i still got a great result! Bethany over at Dirty Kitchen Secrets made little hearts with her ravioli, how sweet!! =)

Beet Pasta

300g all-purpose flour

200g beet puree (i used boiled, peeled and pureed, then weighed)

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the puree and egg, gently mix in until well combined. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes until it is smooth and even in texture. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Once the time has passed, divide the dough in half and roll it out as thin as possible. Mine was about 1/8" inch thick, which gave me a thick result BUT it was tasty! Cut into desired shapes or squares, place a small ball of filling in the centre, wet the edges lightly with water and top with another piece of dough. Press the edges together with a fork if you would like  a pattern or just press down gently to seal with your fingers.

To cook the ravioli, boil a pot of water, season with salt and toss a few ravioli's in for around 5 minutes, they will float when ready to eat! We were a little bit naughty and tossed ours in a little butter before eating......and WOW what an awesome flavour combination! The beet flavour isn't very pronounced at all, could be because my filling is so tasty! But for colour and presentation....... just amazing!

As a side note, i layered the left-over ravioli on parchment paper in a large ziploc bag to freeze for another time. They freeze well and you can pop them straight in the boiling water from the freezer to cook and serve!

I made 30 little raviolis with this recipe and had a little filling left over which we added to some pasta with chicken for the next nights dinner!