The kids pulled beets from my mom's garden when we were visiting last week. We steamed up a few too many for dinner two nights ago and needed a creative plan to use up the leftovers. On a whim the kids and I transformed them into technicolor pink ravioli. Here's how:
Puree two cups of chopped beets with 2 eggs in food processor or blender.
Placed 2 1/2 C flour mixed with 1 tsp salt.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add beet mixture. Stir and knead (adding extra flour as needed) until well combined. Continue adding flour until a stiff (read: not sticky) dough is achieved. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for 1/2 hour. (My kids have an adorable habit of singing lullabies to "resting" dough. *Love*)
While the dough is resting mix up your filling. We used caramelized onions (1/2 C), goat cheese (1/3 C), ricotta (1/2 C), a pinch of salt and an egg. Chopped roasted walnuts would have been a lovely addition but we were out.
Roll out dough on a well floured board. Cut into 2" squares. Into each square carefully place a tablespoon of filling in the center. Moisten the sides with water. Place a second noodle square on top and press edges to seal.
Cook in rapidly boiling salted water for four minutes per noodle. I boil them in batches as we get them ready and then lightly oil them after transferring to a serving bowl to prevent sticking.
Like most of my finished food shots, the cooked noodles didn't photograph well. But trust me that they were delicious and beautiful. We served it with garlic infused olive oil and garden fresh veggies. There were no leftovers. Improvise with any pureed, steamed, drained vegetable. Enjoy!
