Greenslove Bloghop - Kale and Beet Ravioli with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

These homemade ravioli are not only gorgeous and vibrant, they are absolutely delicious. The earthy, fresh flavors in the pasta are elevated to haute cuisine levels with a creamy gorgonzola filling accented with toasted walnuts. Served over fresh sautéed kale this dish makes an impressive first course to an elegant meal.

In Italy you often see pasta recipes as il primo or first course. In a traditional dinner (or Sunday lunch) this would be followed by il secondo or second course; usually a meat or fish based entree accompanied by i contorni, side dishes - usually vegetables. Both portions tend to be small so one isn't too full. Of course, by the time you've had your antipasto (which translates literally as "before the meal"), saved some room for qualcosa dolce (something sweet), and washed it all down with plenty of good vino you're pretty full and ready to fare un sonnellino (take a nap).

This recipe serves 12 as a first course or 6 as a main course. You can also freeze extra ravioli for up to one month in an airtight container with the layers separated by wax paper. A pasta machine is helpful (I used the KitchenAid pasta attachment) but you can use a rolling pin if you have the patience.

Kale and Beet Ravioli with Gorgonzola and Toasted Walnuts ~ makes 60 ravioli
3 cups semolina, divided
3 cups AP flour, divided
6 eggs, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
8 oz beet root, cooked and peeled
8 oz kale, stems removed and leaves blanched
1 egg, beaten

Gorgonzola-Walnut Filling
6 oz gorgonzola, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Sautéed Kale
16 oz kale
2 cups onion, julienne
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
parsely, for garnish
toasted walnuts, for garnish
parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste


Cook, peel and puree beet root. Set aside. Blanch and puree kale. Set aside.

For each dough combine together 1.5 cups each semolina and AP flour, 3 eggs, 1/4 teaspoon salt and either beet or kale puree. Knead together, form into a ball, wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for one hour. You should now have one gorgeous bright red ball of pasta dough and one vibrantly fresh green ball of dough.

While dough is resting make your filling. Mix together softened gorgonzola and cream cheese. Combine thoroughly. Add toasted, chopped walnuts and minced parsley. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Set aside.

Cut the dough into strips (re-wrap extra dough so it doesn't dry out) and roll out into long ropes. Brush sides with eggwash and press ropes together, alternating colors, until you have a piece of striped dough about 8 inches wide.

Roll slightly with a rolling pin so it is thin enough for your pasta machine and roll into thin sheets. Add flour as necessary to prevent sticking. You may need to cut down your dough to fit. I cut mine into quarters to make it easier to handle.

Lay your sheets of dough out and brush with eggwash. Drop a teaspoon of filling evenly spaced across sheet of pasta. Brush second sheet with eggwash and cover filling.

Cut into squares and crimp edges with a fork. Lay on a cooling rack to dry slightly. Save your dough scraps to make fettucine for another night.

To prepare the kale remove the tough stems and cut the leaves into ribbons. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and caramelize the onions. Add kale, minced garlic, any remaining gorgonzola filling (even just a tablespoon remaining will add great flavor). Cook just until kale begins to wilt. Add cream and combine well.

Boil water and cook ravioli approximately 5-6 minutes or until done. Toss with kale and serve garnished with parsley, toasted walnuts, and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

It's a bloghop! Please join in on the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe (kale, collards, spinach, lettuce, cabbage) posted during the month of March 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenslove event! The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.

Proud to be co-hosting with:

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes
Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
My Twisted Recipes ~ Dudut ~ @mytwistedrecipe  
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen 
Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla
Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem
Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 
Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick
The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~@TAofCRF
The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma