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Marialena

Beetroot & feta cheese homemade ravioli

Fresh pasta sheets with a unique beetroot color, cut in ravioli, filled with minced beetroot, walnuts, feta cheese and herbs. Alternatively, the filling could just be your sauce for store-bought pasta of your choice!
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
rest time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 2 portions
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

For the dough:
  • 260 gr flour all purpose
  • 120 gr semolina fine
  • 1 egg large
  • 150 gr beetroot roasted
  • 1 pinch salt
Για τη γέμιση:
  • 200 gr beetroot roasted
  • 50 gr walnuts roasted
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp basil fresh, chopped
  • 2 tbsp thyme fresh, leaves only
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice + zest from 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tbsp feta cheese crumbled
  • salt + pepper
To serve the ravioli:
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2-3 sprigs thyme
  • feta cheese crumbled
  • walnuts roasted, crushed
  • salt & freshly ground pepper

Equipment

  • food processor
  • pasta machine & ravioli cutter

Method
 

For the beetroot:
  1. Preheat the oven to 200 C fan.
  2. Wash and dice the beetroots, place them on a parchment paper ligned baking sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt & pepper. *The beetroot quantity depends on if you make the pasta from scratch or just the sauce- see below sections for quantities
  3. Roast for about 25' or until soften.
For the dough:
  1. In a big bowl, put the flour, semolina and salt and mix.
  2. Put the roasted beetroot pieces (only the quantity required for the dough) and one large egg in a food processor and process until purred.
  3. Add the pureed mix to the bowl with the flour & semolina and gently mix with a spoon until a dough is starting to form.
  4. Transfer the dough to a clean and slightly floured surface and knead for at least 10'. Observe the dough as you knead and add a bit of flour little by little if too sticky or few drops of water in case it's too dry and continue working the dough until it's soft, elastic and not sticky.
  5. Form the dough into a ball and cover tightly with cling film or bee wrap and leave it rest for at least 30' in room temperature. While the dough rests prepare the filling. See instructions below.
  6. Uncover the dough and split in quarters. Take one part and roll it to a small ball on a slightly floured surface so to work it through the pasta machine, keeping the rest covered until you need them to avoid them from drying.
  7. Start with the machine opening set to the widest position (0). Flatten the dough ball gently with your fingers and dust a bit of flour on both sides, removing any excess flour. Roll the dough once, then fold it in half and roll it again. Dust a bit of flour on both sides and remove any excess flour. Roll it through 3-4 times. See here or a similar video for your own machine for more instructions on how to use it.
  8. Start making the machine opening tighter moving towards position 5 or 6, rolling the dough once through each position, always dusting with some flour both sides and removing any excess flour before you roll it again.
  9. Make the second pasta sheet following the same process. Place 1tsp of the filling on a pasta sheet leaving gaps of 3-4cm. Then cover with the second and cut the ravioli with the ravioli cutter (mine is of 6cm diameter). Seal them being careful not to trap air. Leave the ravioli in a tray dusted with semolina to avoid sticking.
  10. Continue with the rest dough balls following the same process.
For the filling:
  1. While the dough is resting, make the filling. Add the beetroot pieces (quantity for the filling) to a food processor along with the roasted walnuts, the herbs, the lemon juice and the lemon zest, the olive oil and the garlic. Process few times to blend the ingredients together but not to make a puree. We want a pesto like texture. Transfer the mix to a bowl and fold in the crumbled feta cheese, salt and pepper. Try the mix and adjust the taste as per preference. Use the mix to fill the raviolis.
    *Roasting the walnuts is optional but it will add taste. To roast them line a baking tray with baking paper and bake at 180 C fan for 10' approximately.
To serve the ravioli:
  1. Boil some water in a medium pan. Salt the water and add the ravioli, cook for 3-4'.
  2. Heat a non-stick pan with the olive oil and the butter over medium heat and add the thyme sprigs.
  3. Remove the cooked raviolis from the pan with a slotted spoon drying them as much as possible and transfer them to the pan with the butter mix.
  4. Using a spoon pour some of the olive oil- butter mix over the raviolis to coat them. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Serve garnishing with crashed roasted walnuts, crumbled feta cheese, some lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper.
Using the filling as a sauce for store bought pasta
  1. Cook the pasta of your choice as per the package's instructions. Drain, keeping some of the water the pasta was cooked in aside.
  2. Add the cooked pasta to a non-stick pan, add the beetroot filling, some olive oil and as much pasta water as needed.
  3. Mix, season with salt and serve with crushed walnuts, crumbled feta cheese and freshly ground pepper.