At a church bazaar a few months ago I scored a pasta maker for 4 dollars. I used it once to make spaghetti, and while the results were good, it wasn’t worth the effort.
However, on foodgawker I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart (who else?) for beet ravioli stuffed with ricotta. Since both beets and ricotta were on sale, I had to give this a try!
Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
- 8 ounces red or golden beets (about 2 medium), without greens
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Coarse salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- Semolina flour, for storage
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixer (or by hand) and let dough sit for 1-2 hours.
2. It’s rolling time! roll the dough a couple times through a pasta roller or using a rolling pin.
3. Stuff with ricotta cheese mixture and seal by pressing a fork along the edges.
4. Place in a pot of boiling water for approximately 1 minute or until dough has become firm.
5. Top with olive oil, alfredo sauce, or tomato sauce and enjoy!
My results:
After kneading the dough, the color was not a vibrant magenta, but instead looked more like raw pork, as you can see in the picture below. Not appetizing.
Another thing to note is that you need to let the pasta dough sit in the fridge. It did not say so in the directions, but the dough was too sticky and malleable and didn’t keep its shape well when being rolled.
The verdict: Nay.
The color was off, the taste was okay, and once again, it was not worth the time nor the effort. There’s a reason why people don’t make homemade pasta anymore. This is why!
