Peach, Walnut & Beet Ravioli with Rhubarb Butter
My day started at the farmer’s market. Well, actually it started with a hangover, followed by the grouchy realization that I needed to bring my car to the shop for a pricey operation. But, after that, it started at the farmer’s market.
Still quite fuzzy and unsteady from the aforementioned hangover, and at this point, uncaffeinated, I ran around the market, tasting various types of lettuces, homemade jams and about 800 calories worth of various cheeses on toothpicks. Standing in front of some root vegetables and feeling inspired by the beautiful, fuchsia beets, my headache began to clear and a dinner plan formed in its place.
The goal was to do a sort of “ode to spring” ravioli using an array of fresh, local ingredients. And, I was mostly successful in executing this, if you overlook the caveat that almost nothing I wanted to put in the ravioli was actually in season yet. (Yes, I’m talking about YOU, peaches and rhubarb, you tardy effers.)
Moving onward, I visited the Italian neighborhood to buy fresh pasta sheets, then Whole Foods to get the remainder of ingredients (thanks Mexico, you rock).
The following dish is what came out at the end of the day—maybe not an “ode to spring,” but, just as appropriate—an ode to fresh beginnings. Herein is the story of the day that started with a groggy head and, because of a few colorful beets, turned delicious and rosy. I thought, as I scrubbed the bright pink juice stain off of my white cutting board: maybe the color will linger like this around my mind. What pink thoughts will I wake up with tomorrow?
Ingredients:
1 large sprig of rosemary
10 leaves sage
¼ cup walnuts
2 tablespoon goat cheese
1 cup fresh peaches, diced
1 medium beet
½ leek, sliced
a 6” stalk of rhubarb
fresh pasta sheets
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoon brown sugar
salt & pepper
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350°. Wash the beet, cover it in foil and roast for 1 hour or until you can stick a fork almost completely through the beet with ease.
Meanwhile…
Make the peaches:
Heat a medium-sized pan over low heat and melt the stick of butter (yes, the whole thing. Don’t shortcut, dieters.) Add in the brown sugar and stir until it dissolves. Add the peaches, stirring to coat in the sugared butter, and cook for 10 minutes or until they’re tender.
Remove the peaches from the pan with a slotted spoon, keeping all the lovely butter still in the pan (with the heat on low).
Cook the Rhubarb Sauce:
Snap the rhubarb into a few pieces and add to the pan of butter. Also add the sliced leeks, and continue cooking until the leeks are caramelized and the rhubarb is tender, about 10 minutes.
When the rhubarb butter has cooled off slightly, pour it into the blender and puree, then set aside. In case you’re wondering, while green and pink make for a beautiful color combination as separate items, they get a bit muddy looking when whipped together. Regardless, please have some faith in this sauce. If I were a rhubarb plant, I’d totally travel from Mexico to Rhode Island just to be a part of it.
Set aside the rhubarb sauce and rinse out the blender. (Yes, you’re going to use the blender AGAIN. It’s one of THOSE recipes. Sorry.)
Blend the Herb Paste:
Add the rosemary, sage, walnuts, cheese and a few sprinkles of salt and pepper to the blender and pulse you have a green paste.
By now, the beet should be done. Remove it from the oven, let it cool slightly and then dice about ¾ cup. Combine the beets, peaches and herb paste.
Cut the pasta sheets into a desired ravioli size. (I think mine were about 2 square inches.) Spoon a small amount of filling onto one ravioli square, brush the edges of the square with water, place a second pasta square atop, and then seal by crimping the edges with your fingers. (Add more water to the top square if the pieces aren’t sticking.) Additionally, I like to score the edges with fork tongs.
Boil a large pot of water and cook the ravioli for about 2 minutes or until they float to the top of the pot.
Reheat the rhubarb sauce and serve over the ravioli. Grind a bit of course sea salt over the top and serve.
*Because I had it laying around, I cooked up a side of kale with some minced garlic and grated soppressata. I thought the green contrast added some extra flair, so if you’re serving this for guests, you may want to consider a side salad, steamed spinach, etc.
Original recipe by Bre Goldsmith.
Special thanks to my friend Joe for his help with the shopping, cooking, and most importantly, eating of this meal.
Makes approximately 20 large ravioli.
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