Golden Beet Ravioli with Sautéed Veggies
This can be broken into two major steps, making the ravioli & cooking the ravioli with the veggies. A little warning, when I make food I use approximate measurements, a dash of this, a bit of a pour of that, so keep that into consideration and always taste what you're cooking, you may like something sweeter than I do or more bitter than I do.
2-3 Tbs of chopped chives
2-4 cups of spelt flour (maybe more depending on the size or moisture content of the beet)
1 Tbs of chopped basil (to sautée)
1 Tbs of diced basil (for the filling)
2 cloves of garlic (1 for the filling, 1 for the sautée), diced
Wash 1 golden beet, cutting the stems and leaves off. Save the stems (to freeze and put in smoothies later, added nutrition or use in stir fries or later in this recipe) & the leaves (great for a wilted beet green salad). Wrap in tin foil & roast at 350 for about an hour. Take out of the oven & let cool. While all this is going on you can start to caramelize half of one red onion, with some olive oil (enough to wet the pan), a a diced clove of garlic, a Tbs of coconut nectar and a Tbs of paprika. To caramelize, sautée on low, tasting after a half hour, and an hour to see how you like the consistency of the onions. Remember to take this off the heat about 20 minutes before you have it perfectly cooked, adding the chives, basil & peppers.
Take out your food processor and put the golden beet in, slowly adding (a third of a cup each time) the spelt flour. For my beet I needed about 2 1/3 cups, but you might need more. You want the dough to be a squishy but not sticky consistency. While this is happening you can mix together a tablespoon of the diced basil, the cup of ricotta cheese, one of the cloves of garlic - diced, & the 1/4 cup of mozzarella. Roll out a small piece of the dough, covering your hands, mat and rolling pin in flour first, to a really thin sheet of dough and using a cookie cutter or over turned glass, cut into circles. Place a small spoonful of the filling on each circle, and wetting the edges with water first, fold over, sealing as tightly as possibly by pinching. Because I did this on two different days, I froze my ravioli on a sheet of parchment paper at this point. If you are doing this all on one day, you can start a pot of water to boil at this point. Once boiling, add the ravioli & cook until they rise to the surface.
Transfer the ravioli to the pan with the sautéed veggies, sautéing once more, constantly turning over & moving so they don't stick to the pan. Keep sautéing until the ravioli are a little browned. Remove from heat and serve!
I recommend pairing with a sweet red wine & a wilted beet green salad with grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, onions, white raisins & almonds with a sweet olive oil & vinegar dressing.
