Kale goat cheese ravioli

Home-made pasta is one of the most delicious and versatile things in the world: every year when spring comes around I start making fresh pasta 2 to 3 times a week, ravioli is my absolute favourite because you can literally fill them with any seasonal vegetable and/or cheese you have on hands. These ravioli are colourful and healthy: they are filled with a simple potato-based goat cheese filling and topped with brown butter and kale. The recipe looks very long but it’s actually very easy, the only tricky part is the home-made pasta, which it’s fun to make with friends or kids. I really advise to use a pasta machine to roll out the dough, however if you don’t have one you can also try using a rolling pin, but I should warn you, it’s hard work. Of course, you can experiment with different vegetables and cheeses if you wish to, I will go go asparagus as soon as they come around.

Kale & goat cheese ravioli (serves 3 to 4)

For the filling

Ingredients

1. 2 medium potatoes
2. 8-10 medium leaves kale
3. 6 oz. goat cheese
4. Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes and kale until soft (you can cook them together and remove the kale when it’s done)
2. Meanwhile cut the goat cheese into small cubes
3. Peel the skin off the cooked potatoes and smash them with a fork in a medium bowl.
4. Add the goat cheese and keep smashing with a fork until almost smooth (you should still be able to see some chunks of goat cheese)
5. Chop the cooked kale into small strips and add ¾ of it to the filling (set the rest aside for the topping)
6. Stir everything together, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool completely

For the pasta

Ingredients

• 9 oz. all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs +1 egg yolk (reserve the egg white)
• 1 pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Place the flour and salt on a floured surface and make a well in the centre, whisk the eggs in a smaller bowl
2. Pour the eggs over the flour, start incorporating the eggs into the flour with a fork then work the dough with floured hands until smooth. (You can add a few drops of water if the dough looks dry or some flour if it feels too soft, you are looking for an elastic smooth dough)
3. Make a bowl with the dough and cover with cling film. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Set your pasta machine to the narrowest setting (if you notice that your dough starts to break apart you might need to start from a wider setting and work it down from there). Cut the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out with the pasta machine and place each strip of pasta on a floured surface.
5. Place 1 teaspoons of filling on half (3) on the pasta strips (leave 1 inch between every teaspoon and half and inch from the edge)
6. Brush the edges with the reserved egg white
7. Cover with another strip of pasta, pressing down the edges and onto each side of the filling
8. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pasta and cut out the ravioli
9. Alternatively, cut out rounds of pasta using a cookie cutter and place a teaspoon of filling onto half of the rounds, brush the edges with egg white and cover with another round. Press down the edges around the filling
10. Place the finished ravioli on a plate (or surface) covered with parchment paper (cover in film and refrigerate if you are not cooking them right away)
11. Boil a large volume of salted water
12. Cook the ravioli for 2-3 minutes before draining them.

Toppings

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter
• Chopped kale (the ¼ you kept from the filling)
• Grated parmesan
• Chopped walnuts or pistachios

Instructions

1. Cook the butter over medium heat until it looks brown (ish) and smells heavenly like hazelnut
2. Add in the kale and stir
3. Pour over the cooked ravioli
4. Top with grated parmesan and nuts

Enjoy!