Casunziei all’Ampezzana
This beet-filled half-moon shaped ravioli, known as casunziei, was a favorite of Francesco Mangano's when he traveled across northern Italy. His own recipe celebrates fall with a beautiful filling mixture made from beets, ricotta and breadcrumbs. It makes a lot because when entering into the world of stuffed pasta, it’s worth the effort to just keep going. Ravioli freezes well if you’re not serving a crowd. Just lay them out on a floured baking sheet, freeze until firm and then store in sealed freezer bags.
Ingredients
For Pasta:
2⅓ cups all-purpose flour, plus more to store the ravioli
1¼ cup semolina flour
5 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
For Filling:
1 pound red beets, roasted and peeled
1¼ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
A pinch of nutmeg
For Sauce:
1 cup butter
¼ teaspoon poppy seeds
8–12 sage leaves
1 cup finely shredded grana, Parmesan, or other grated cheese
Directions
To make the pasta, in a large mixing bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, semolina flour, eggs and salt until they come together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it by hand until the pasta dough is smooth and all the flour is hydrated, about two minutes. Wrap the pasta dough in plastic and let it rest for 10–15 minutes.
While the dough rests, make the filling. Cut the roasted beets into large pieces and place in a food processor or blender. Add the ricotta cheese, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Puree until smooth. Set aside.
Working in batches, roll your pasta dough into sheets. (This is simplest with the help of a pasta maker set to the thinnest setting.) With a ravioli cutter, cut rounds of pasta dough, top with a small amount of filling, wet the edges with water, then fold your ravioli over. It should look like a halfmoon. Continue making ravioli until you’ve used all the dough and filling. You should have about 70–75 ravioli.
To cook the casunziei, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in your ravioli and cook for 4 minutes. Drain.
For the sauce, heat the butter in a large pan until it turns light brown. Add the poppy seeds, sage leaves and cooked ravioli. Sauté until coated, 1–2 minutes, and then finish with the grated cheese.
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