We have all heard of heart-shaped glasses and some of us have even owned a pair for the fun of it. Whatever your thoughts on Valentine’s day, heart shaped ravioli stuffed with cheese is the way to go. And what makes it even better? These are candy-striped ravioli hearts filled with a herbed cheese mixture. But to keep it real, I did add garlic. This holy goodness is served in a simple brown butter sauce that consists of, you guessed it, butter. Okay, there is also pasta water. The perfect romantic dinner recipe. Make this and everyone or just that one will be super impressed!
To make this beautiful pasta, which my husband mistakenly took for shortbread cookies, all you need is two kinds of dough. The base is made with a simple egg pasta dough and the red pasta is made using pureed beetroots. I roasted mine but could’ve just bought steamed ones and save a lot of time. The beetroots are pulsed into a puree with 1 egg and mixed with the flour. I use my trusted pasta machine to roll out the dough after it is done resting, but you could also do this by hand. Just takes more time. The idea is to put strands of the red pasta on the white/yellow one and roll them on with a rolling pin and then run through the pasta machine at least once so the dough comes together. Just like when laminating with herbs. These heart shaped ravioli stuffed with cheese are a whole afternoons project.
You can never go wrong with a mixture of cream cheese, herbs, and garlic for a filling. Salt and pepper and any other spices you like. A pinch of nutmeg would also work wonders. That is completely up to you. These heart shaped ravioli stuffed with cheese are a true staple of classic ravioli but with a twist.
More often than not it is worth spending some extra time in the kitchen to make something beautiful. So what that every surface including yourself is covered with flour afterward? That is part of the deal. When you are cooking as much as I am, you sometimes bring the vacuum out twice a day just so you wouldn’t bring all the stuff from the kitchen to the other rooms. That is how I usually find a garlic peel in my bed. Oh well.
Heart shaped ravioli stuffed with cheese
Equipment
- Pasta machine
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter for serving
Egg pasta dough
- 200 g pasta flour
- 2 whole eggs
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Beetroot pasta
- 200 g pasta flour
- 1 whole egg
- 1 roasted or boiled beetroot
- pinch of salt
Filling
- 250 g cream cheese
- Bunch of fresh spinach
- Fresh cilantro or parsley
- 1 clove of garlic
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Pasta dough
- To make the beetroot dough, pulse or blend the beetroot with egg and then add to the flour
- Knead each dough for 5-7 minutes
- Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes
Filling
- Get your herbs, everything wilting in the fridge is good to go
- Mix with the cream cheese, garlic, spices and olive oil using a food processor or a blender
Heart shaped pasta stuffed with cheese
- Split each dough into 3 pieces and roll out using the pasta machine
- Fold and run trough the pasta machine again, repeat until smooth
- Dust with flour in between
- Using a knife or a fettucine attachment make strands from the red dough
- Place them on the white dough and lightly roll in with a rolling pin
- Run trough the pasta machine
- Turn the dough with the stripes facing down and add the filling, but leave enough space inbetween
- Brush the negative spaces between the filling with water
- Place on the other sheet of dough and lightly press around the filling using your hands
- Now just use the heart shaped cookie cutter to make the hearts
- Lighlty pinch the seams of the ravioli
- To cook the ravioli, boil a large pot of salted water
- Cook them for 5-7 minutes
- In a seperate pan melt the butter and let brown a bit, add some pasta water
- Add the pasta water and swoosh around until coated in butter and beautiful