Beetroot Ricotta Ravioli

Yesterday I photographed a beautiful wedding at a scout camp, about an hours drive from Melbourne. Which I have to say I was not looking forward to, as it has been pouring with rain for days now. All I could think was this is going to be messy, the bride will end up covered in mud, my cameras are going to have to be serviced by the end of it, and my cold is going to get  far worse. Well it turned out to be a little muddy, but a really nice day, which was shared by all their family and friends. 

On the drive to the wedding, I stopped at a small veggie shop where they had some beautiful looking fresh beetroots which I had to buy. So today I have been making some beetroot and ricotta ravioli, with an orange and poppy seed reduction. 

This recipe is inspired by a meal I had at a lovely little restaurant with a good friend a few months ago.

Orange Reduction 

3 large oranges

1/2 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoons of poppy seeds

Cut and squeeze the oranges, and strain through a sieve to remove any pulp. Place in a saucepan. Add the sugar and bring to the boil. When the mixture starts to thicken remove from the heat and stir through the vinegar and poppy seeds. Set aside.

Beetroot and ricotta ravioli

Dough

200g flour 00

2 eggs

Filling

1 beetroot

250g fresh ricotta

Salt

Pepper

To make the dough, place the flour on a wooden board, and create a well in the centre. Place the eggs in the centre and with a butter knife, slowly start to fold the flour on top of the eggs. Do this until the flour and eggs have combined. Then kneed the dough for 5-10 minutes or until it springs back to the touch. 

(To test you have kneaded it long enough slice the dough in half with a sharp knife if there are air bubbles then you have).

Place cling wrap over the dough and let rest for 25minutes.

To make the filling, Place the beetroot in saucepan of water and simmer on a medium heat until the beetroot is soft. Then using some rubber gloves peel the beetroot and chop into tiny pieces. Place the beetroot and ricotta into a bowl with the salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Remove the dough from the cling wrap and cut in to quarters. Place the dough in a pasta machine and roll out on the thickest setting, continue to run the pasta through the paster machine reducing the setting each time until at the desired thickness. (about 1mm Thick. Do this to all the dough.

 Then lay a dough sheet on a floured board and place teaspoonfuls of the beetroot mixture onto the dough. Then lay another sheet of pasta dough over the top, remove all the air from between the two layers and cut with a cookie cutter. (If the dough is dry you can brush the dough with water so the two sheets stick).

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and place the ravioli in the water, when they rise to the top they are cooked. Remove and strain. Place on a plate and top with the orange and poppy seed sauce.