Mr. Cavaliere – How to Make Amano’s Beet Stained Ravioli

Love it or loathe it, there’s no harm in doing something that nice for your other half on Valentine’s Day. That doesn’t mean breaking the bank at the jewellery store or splurging on some racy lingerie. In fact, cooking someone a damn good meal tops all of that, considering it takes some finessing, and you can finesse things. Here’s chef Michael Angeloni of Amano Pasta on how to make their decadent Beet-Stained Ravioli.

What you’ll need

Makes approx. 25 ravioli depending on the size

The dough

500g Flour (OO or other high-quality flour for pasta making)

185g Red beet puree (Red beets roasted until soft and pureed)

62g Egg yolks

Method:

Mix all ingredients and knead everything well by hand or in a mixer with the dough hook attachment. Do this for five to 10 minutes, or until a smooth ball is formed. Wrap the dough and let it all rest for one hour.

The filling

250g Soft goat cheese

½ Lemon zest

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cream

Method:

Mix all the ingredients well until everything’s smooth and whipped well. Put the mixture into a piping bag. 

To finish

250g Spicy Italian sausage (taken out of the casing)

1 Red bell pepper (roasted, peeled and diced)

1 tsp Chili flakes

1 small Red onion (diced)

2 Garlic (sliced)

2 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp Fresh parsley (chopped)

150ml Dry white wine

How to make it

“Using a pasta machine roll the dough as thin as possible. Cut the dough into squares, then pipe about one tablespoon of the filling into the middle. Then fold from one corner to the other to form a triangle. Pinch down hard to ensure it’s completely sealed. Place the ravioli onto a trap with a little flour sprinkled on it until you are ready to cook (these can also be frozen to be used at another time). In a sauce pan set over medium heat, brown the sausage in the olive oil. Using a wooden spoon to break up the sausage a bit to “crumble it.” Once the sausage is broken up and brown, add in the onion and garlic. Cook until the onions and garlic turn a light golden colour. Then add the chili flakes, some white wine, and reduce the heat to about half using your wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add in the peppers and turn off the heat. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the ravioli for three to four minutes depending on how thin you’ve made them. Once cooked, add them to the pan with the sausage sauce and return to the heat. Cook the ravioli in the sauce for one to two minutes and use some pasta water to thin the sauce as you’d like. Finish it off with some fresh parsley, then you’re good to go.”