Buckwheat Goat Cheese Ravioli

Fresh Buckwheat Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Baked Beets. 

***Note: When making this dish I used my Italian pasta machine and ravioli stamps. If you don't have any stamps at hand a pastry cutter roller will work just as well.

200-250 g of buckwheat flour

2 organic eggs (1 egg per 100 g of flour is the Italian formula)

4 fresh beets 

200 g of goat cheese

1 spring onion

1 garlic clove 

A pinch of salt 

Fresh basil

Lemon zest

Black pepper

Olive oil

A handful of walnuts

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

A couple of tbsp of semolina flour for dusting

Directions:

Start with the pasta dough to allow resting time. Pour flour on to a table or work surface and scoop up a couple of tablespoons, creating a kind of well in the middle. Crack the eggs straight into it and with a fork start mixing the flour and eggs together. Work from the "walls" and inwards so that all flour gets completely incorporated with the eggs. Knead dough for about 5 minutes. Buckwheat flour makes a slightly different dough from your regular 00 flour but make sure your dough still feels smooth and even and not too sticky. Adjust by adding flour if too loose. Wrap the dough in plastic film and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Start with lightly scrubbing the beets and wrapping them loosely in tinfoil, drizzling a little olive oil over them. Bake for about 45 minutes or until they feel soft and ready when you stick a fork into into them. Let them cool off before handling and then peel them and slice them thinly.

In the meantime, make your filling. Chop spring onion and garlic finely (make sure to cut off the green "heart" of the garlic as it's bitter tasting) and quickly sauté them in olive oil. Mash goat cheese with a fork and add onions/garlic. Chop up fresh basil leaves and add to the mixture. Add a pinch of salt and the zest of an organic lemon. Cover with plastic and put in fridge. 

Get your dough from the fridge and cut it into pieces. Start working one piece (covering the remaining ones with a damp towel to keep from drying out is essential here as I found buckwheat dough dries out quicker than your regular one) through the thickest setting of your pasta machine, folding it and double folding it until it comes out smooth and even. Gradually stretch the dough out by using a narrower setting. Repeat with folding and running it through a couple of times. Lastly run it through the narrowest setting until the pasta sheet comes out thin and place it on a smooth surface. Cut it in half so you have two equally large sheets of pasta. 

Drop teaspoons of the filling on the center of the sheet and make sure there's a two finger space between  each dollop. Lightly brush the dough around the filling with water. Place the second pasta sheet on top and gently press out air around the filling using your finger tips. Using the ravioli stamps, cut out the ravioli and place them on a parchment sheet, sprinkling them with semolina flour to keep them from sticking together. Make sure they're properly closed or the filling will seep out while cooking. Repeat until you've used up all your pasta dough. 

Bring salted water to a boil and carefully place the ravioli in the pot. Let boil on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes depending on ravioli size or until pasta feels firm without being hard. Cut through one to check consistency. In the meantime, chop up walnuts and toast them in a dry pan. When the ravioli are done, drain them of water and place on a plate. Drizzle over a good quality olive oil and add the sliced beets and toasted walnuts. Finish with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and black pepper.