Name: Cassunziei Ampezzani (Three Beet Raviolis from the Veneto)
Yield: Serves 6 (about 36 ravioli)
Ingredients: Beet Pasta for 6; 1½ tablespoons grated lemon zest; 3 cups fresh ricotta cheese (see Note); 3 tablespoons poppy seeds; ½ cup unsalted butter, melted; 6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese; Basic Homemade Pasta for 6; 8 cups (loosely packed) chopped Swiss chard or escarole or combination, rinsed well, cooked, chopped again, and squeezed as dry as possible (about 1½ cups); Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste; 1 cup chopped onion cooked in 3 tablespoons butter until tender; 2 large egg yolks; 1 cup toasted bread crumbs; 2½ cups fresh ricotta cheese (see Note); ½ cup pureed cooked beet; ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped; ½ cup diced pancetta, rendered (see Note); ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation info

Serves
36
(about ravioli)

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

The Mediterranean Kitchen

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 1998

About

Why three versions of this ravioli? Well, the first is traditional, a ravioli filled with pureed beets, ricotta, eggs, and bread crumbs, served with butter and poppy seeds. The other is a less conventional interpretation with the beets on the outside, pureed beets in the dough, a simple ricotta filling, and the butter and poppy seed sauce. This proved to be such an interesting combination and so pretty to look at that it became our Valentine’s Day special. One year we went so far as to cut