Saturday, March 3, 2012

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:
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

47 comments:

  1. Wow! These lovely ravioli looks stunning!! And great combination of ingredients too. Amazing! :)

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  2. Ooooh, I love these ravioli, amazing!!!!!!
    Very good step-by-step directions. I HAVE to buy a pasta machine ;-)

    Loads of #greenslove for you!

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    1. Thank you! If you already have a Kitchen Aid mixer the attachment is great. If not the Imperia machine is fairly compact.

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  3. One word, STUNNING!!!Gorgeous color from the beets and kale and very very creative Jess!!Loving the recipes #Greenslove :)

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  4. Beautiful dish!!! What an incredible idea. Funny you talk about the courses in Italy - I love the tradition but I always had a hard time getting through the whole meal. I love pasta so much that il primo always filled me up!

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    1. The only time I really ate both was with my then-boyfriend's family when we'd go out to Sunday lunch and you knew it was going to be your only meal. Four hours long... but your only meal. :)

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  5. Jennifer... I think I could easily fall in deep love with this dish. I adore & love everything about it! I wish we lived near each other I would take your classes.

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    1. Thanks Georgie! I've been thinking about offering classes at home. Right now I only do them at work.

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  6. WOah, these look AMAZING! Love the striped idea, will need to try soon! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. These look TOO amazing to make at home. I have to admit I am not quite confident enough to attempt this myself yet, but what an inspiration it is to see you make it! and to make it look easy! I especially like how well you broke down the steps with pictures. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You can do it! They are time consuming, I won't lie, but once you make fresh pasta you'll be like, "ok - that wasn't hard." I've got plenty of Barilla dry pasta in my cabinets - but this is a totally fun way to spend an afternoon with a couple of good friends who enjoy cooking.

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  8. Your striped ravioli is AMAZING! So beautiful and vibrant...and I know it's delicious, too! So fun joining you on this greenslove blog hop :)

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  9. This sounds (and looks) delicious! YUM!

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  10. Wow! Can I eat dinner at your house? This looks so delicious. I have never made ravioli--looks like I better learn. Great greenslove!

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  11. Wow this is beyond impressive and gorgeous!! The colors are amazing and the flavors sound fab together.

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  12. Wow!! These are stunning. I am incredibly impressed - you've totally motivated me to make some pasta now. Sending you lots of #greenslove :-)

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  13. These are beautiful! I can make a plain pasta with just a little aggravation. I know that trying to make these striped masterpieces might send me over the edge!

    Excellent recipe!

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    1. Just between us... they're really easy. :) Time consuming, yes. But definitely no more complicated than firing up the ol' food processor! :)

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  14. Wonderful!!!
    So creative, these look absolutely beautiful!!!
    Really impressed!!!

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  15. this is crazy!!!! i saw this on pinterest, even before i saw it on our bloghop. wow. i love how you used the spinach and beet puree to make the colorful pasta! thanks jess for your support and all that you do for our lovebloghop. you rock.

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    1. Thank you, Junia! You are such a kind and thoughtful person. I really appreciate all you do to help all of us.

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  16. I love the colours! What a wonderful way to make pasta healthier! Now I really need to get myself a pasta machines!

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  17. Simple amazing! Love the colours!!

    Do stop by my blog. Would be delighted if you could link your fabulous recipes to my ongoing event :) Happy Cooking!

    Chef Al dente On going event: Gimme GREEN!

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  18. I'm soo impressed!! Making your own ravioli in such a creative way!! This is definitely a great recipe!

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  19. Wow--these are really beautiful! You're putting us not-pasta-makers to shame ;)

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  20. I'm not much into beets, but these look absolutely amazing! The colors just go wonderfully together!

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  21. Very nice! I've always wondered how to make striped ravioli/ And what a fun way to incorporate kale. Seems like this would be a great way to get kids to eat their veggies without them even known ;)

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  22. Oh my gosh! I didn't realize that it was two separate doughs pressed together until I read this (I thought the red was a sauce). This looks awesome!

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  23. I cannot tell you how much I love this! Your ravioli is so beautiful, and beets and kale are two of my favorite things! The blue cheese filling sounds scrumptious as well. Wonderful dish, I would love some right now for dinner :)!

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  24. jess, oh jess! this is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!

    simply lovely! I have not eaten beet or kale but by just simply looking at the photos, i bet they are delicious!

    thank you for sharing the 'making' photos as well, aside from the knowledge i gained, i was also entertained!

    thanks, sweetie!

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  25. This looks so earthy! I need to eat more beets! :) Stopping by to send you some #greenslove! Happy to be co-hosting with you! :)
    Cindy

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  26. These look freakin' amazing!! The color is truly brilliant, and there are no dyes, awesome. It makes me super sad, now that I've figured out that I'm allergic to beets; I've been seeing so many great recipes with them included. Either way, great post and sending #greenslove your way!

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  27. Wooow - this must be the most creative use of greens ever - and what an artwork! Fantastic recipe :)

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  28. I am full reading about this Sunday meal lol. Such gorgeous raviolis with two colors and I love the gorgonzola filling, that is such an onctuous cheese. Beautiful creation for greenslove.

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  29. Very innovative & creative recipe! Kudos to such creation, you've elevated the level of the #greenslove challenge.

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  30. It looks like a lot of work, but boy was it worth it! Those are vibrant and delicious looking.

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  31. Jessica,
    Your Kale and Beet Ravioli, certainly looks like a labor of love, but certainly worth it. I love the kale-beet combo, and the gorgeous colors. Sending lots of #greenslove for all that you do!

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  32. Wow, wow, WOAH! SUPER cool! :D

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  33. I am seriously impressed! Your ravioli are gorgeous, and might even prompt me to make a gluten-free version of these, although the sautéed kale sounds fabulous on it's own too! Love your recipe!! Happy #greenslove :-)

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  34. Wow that is crazy awesome!! I would buy your pasta!

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  35. Those are GORGEOUS Darling!!! I love this idea, and love how much love went into making them:-) Beautiful, Hugs, Terra

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  36. Those raviolis are awesome! I cant wait to give them a try. LOVE love fresh pasta!

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