Homemade Beet and Goat Cheese Ravioli

I’ve kinda been on a bit of a ravioli kick for a while.  Last Thanksgiving I purchased about four sugar pumpkins and went on a quest to use them all before the New Year.  In addition to a cheesy stuffing stuffed pumpkin and pumpkin soup, I made roasted pumpkin ravioli.  That was my first homemade ravioli-making adventure, but I used wonton wrappers instead of pasta dough.  Using wonton wrappers is super easy and quite yummy, but just a bit slimy on the texture.  Since then, I’ve been gobbling up ravioli like they’re going out of style.  Buying a couple of packages at the store and whipping up a homemade sauce to go with them can be a great save for an easy but elegant vegetarian dinner.  Besides pumpkin, I’m also a fan of mushroom ravioli (in all its umami glory!) and butternut squash (so sweet!).

Since I’m so in love with ravioli, I thought it was only appropriate that I went on another homemade ravioli adventure.  This time, I decided to do it up right and make fresh pasta dough instead of using wonton wrappers.  Besides, making fresh pasta dough was something that I have always wanted to try out.  I used Tyler Florence’s recipe on the Food Network for the pasta dough, and filled the suckers with goat cheese and beets.  To be precise, here’s the recipe:

Beet and Goat Cheese Ravioli Filling

Ingredients:

6 small cooked beets, peeled (I used the steamed ones in vacuum packs from Trader Joe’s, but you can also roast your own)

2 ounces of goat cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

Blend beets and goat cheese in a food processor until it’s pink and creamy.  Stir in the salt and dried thyme.

It’s pretty darn easy if you ask me.  I just don’t think I’d go on another pasta adventure again without a pasta maker (a ravioli mold might help also!).  Hand rolling my dough worked, but despite all the effort I put in to make them as thin as possible, my ravioli dough was a bit thicker than the norm.

I also tried making a fancy sauce to serve them with, but in the end I was wishing I had made a much simpler brown butter and thyme sauce.  Anything more complex and you lose some of the flavors of the beets and goat cheese- which should totally be the stars of the show!

My family enjoyed my little pockets of goodness tonight alongside some thin asparagus roasted with garlic and capers, and a simple salad with a lemon vinaigrette, sliced avocados, and shredded carrot.

Tired of ravioli?  Psshhht. Heck no!