Heart Shaped Ravioli

How sweet are these little cuties!? I had been dying to try my hand at making pink pasta dough, and then of course, thought of turning them into heart-shaped ravioli! How could I not!? And then YOU all voted on Instagram to have me do a video - and so, here we are!

The pasta dough is pretty simple, and my second batch came out even better than the first! It’s my classic fresh pasta recipe with the addition of pureed beets instead of warm water! Give yourself a break on those beets too. Sure, you can boil and peel them yourself, but honestly, just get the pre-cooked ones in the vacuum pack from the store - I mean, you ARE about to make ravioli from scratch! Puree the beets with a bit of water so you get a smooth consistency. OR, if you want a more marbled look, you can use less water and you’ll get some bigger pieces of beet and deeper color streaks in your pasta dough. Seriously, have fun with this!

While your dough rests, make you filling - again, a simple classic version. Fresh ricotta cheese, salt, pepper and parsley. Once that’s altogether you can start making ravioli! If you’re working alone, it’s best to work in batches so your dough doesn’t dry out. And I recommend a pasta machine for these. If you don’t have one, you can certainly use a rolling pin, but it’s going to be a lot of physical effort to get the dough thin enough.

Start by cutting off about one third of your dough ball. Re-wrap the remaining dough so it doesn’t dry out. Use your hands to flatten it as much as possible before running it through the largest setting on the machine a few times. Fold it over in between so you get a pretty even shape. Continue rolling the dough through the machine, going down a setting each time until you get the the second to last level of thin. Then lay your dough on your work surface and use a heart-shaped cooking cutter to cut the hearts. You may need to use a sharp knife to loosen the hearts from the dough - don’t pull on them or the shape will get wonky. Ball up the scraps and re-wrap them with the dough - you can re-roll all the scraps at the end.

Line your hearts up two by two. Dollop about a teaspoon of filling on every other heart. Use the other hearts to gently cover the filling. You may need to stretch these ever so slightly to make the edges match up. Gently press with your fingers to make sure the dough wraps tightly around the filling and the edges are sealed. Use a fork (or a pasta cutter) to gently press the edges together and set the ravioli on a prepared baking sheet. Continue until you’ve used up all of your dough!

The sauce for these is also very easy (again, you just made ravioli, from SCRATCH!). It what every little kid asks for, but with a grown up twist! It’s simply butter and cheese! Just melt the butter in a pan, large enough to fit your ravioli. Cook the ravioli in boiling water until they float and toss them right into the melted butter. Top everything off with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a quick drizzle of vin cotto. Vin cotto is essentially the pure grape must that’s used to make balsamic vinegar. It’s AH-mazing!

I hope you all enjoy this dish with someone, anyone, everyone you love! Have an beautiful Valentine’s Day!
Buon appetito!

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Heart Shaped Ravioli
Serves 2 (Makes about 20 ravioli)

For the Pasta:
1 C. Caputo pasta fresca flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
3 small beets, cooked and peeled

For the Filling:
3/4 C. fresh ricotta cheese
1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
salt
pepper

For the Sauce:
1 stick (1/4 lb.) butter
1/3 C. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. DeNigris vin cotto or Founders Balsamic vinegar

Special tools:
pasta machine
heart shaped cookie cutter

For the Pasta: *Have extra flour on hand to quickly make adjustments. Puree the beets with 1/4 C. water in a blender or food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Place flour on a clean work surface. Add salt. Use your fingers to create a 3-4 inch well in the center of the flour. Make sure it has sufficient walls and a bottom (don’t go all the way to the work surface).

Add the egg to center of the well, along with some of the beet puree. Carefully mix the egg into the flour with a fork until it becomes very sticky. Sprinkle some flour on the fork and remove any dough that is stuck to it.

Using your hands, gently begin the incorporate the rest of the flour into the mixture; adding more beet puree as needed. *If you’ve reached your desired color, but need more moisture in your dough, simply add warm water instead.

When all of the flour has been incorporated, continue kneading for a few more minutes until the dough became smooth and elastic. It should be soft and your fingers should not be sticking to it any more. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and set aside.

For the Filling: Combine ricotta, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Set aside.

To Make the Ravioli: Prepare a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour.

Cut about 1/3 of the dough off of the dough ball. Re-wrap the remains so they don’t dry out. Use your hands to begin to flatten the dough, adding flour when and where it gets sticky. Roll the dough through the pasta machine on the largest setting. Fold it into thirds to create an even square or rectangle shape. Roll it through the largest setting 1-2 more times. Continue rolling the dough through the pasta machine, gradually lowering the width until you’ve reached the second to lowest setting.

Lay your pasta sheet on a floured work surface. Use the cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out of the dough. You may need to use a sharp knife to loosen them completely. Do NOT pull on the hearts or they’ll stretch out of shape. Scraped can be re-wrapped and re-rolled.

Place a scant teaspoon of filling on half of the hearts. Use the remaining half to gently cover the filling, making sure the edges line up. Gently press all around the filling with your fingers, making sure there’s no air inside and smooth the pasta out towards the edges to make sure the edges are sealed. Finally, use the tines of a fork or a pasta cutter to seal the ravioli and create a decorative edge. Set your ravioli on your prepared baking sheet.

Continue rolling the dough, cutting the hearts and filling them until all of your dough is used. *You can make the ravioli in advance. Once they are formed, place the entire cookie sheet, flat, in the freezer until they are frozen (at least 30 minutes). Then place the ravioli in a freezer safe bag until ready to use.

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a rolling boil. Heat the butter over low heat, in a large enough pan to fit all of the ravioli. Carefully drop the ravioli into the boiling water. When they float to the top they are ready (leave them in the water for an extra minute if you want the edges to be softer). Use a spider or strainer to transfer the ravioli to the pan with the butter. Gently stir them to make sure they are coated. Add the parmesan cheese and stir again.

Divide the ravioli among two bowls. Add extra parmesan and drizzle 1 teaspoon of vinegar over each bowl. Serve hot.