BEETS AND GREENS

My best friend, Ann loves beet greens! I try to remember to give her some when the beets begin to grow in the garden. But she will take them anytime. Me… not so much! I find beet greens a bit harsh. I could never bring myself to eat Swiss chard either. I am what you call a super taster. Many years ago National Geographic included several taste tests with one of their publications and the whole family did them. I was a supertaster, but in comparison Leilah’s taste buds were so numerous it was insane! Then we knew why she never ate vegetables as a child.

Anywho! A while back I made some wilted beet greens. I thought I give it a try with a new take on it. Mind you these were freshly picked, very small, brand new beets. Peeling and slicing them was super easy. It will never be something I would crave, but once again I had no problem consuming it as a side dish. Maybe if I live long enough and the man grows them in the garden it will grow on me too. Here is for you Ann beets and greens!

BEETS AND GREENS

1 bunch tender, small new beets with greens attached

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 Tbsp light tasting oil

2 Tbsp butter

salt to taste

1/2 lemon

• Cut off the greens, rinse and set aside. Peel and slice the beets.
• Add the beet slices to a large non stick skillet. 
• Sprinkle with caraway seeds and cover with water. 
• Cook until tender. 
• Pour off the cooking liquid. 
• Add 1 Tbsp light tasting oil and 2 Tbsp butter to the pan. 
• When the butter is melted, add the greens. 
• Cover with a clear lid and remove skillet from heat. 
• Let it stand for a couple of minutes or until the greens wilt in the residual heat.
• Season with salt and squeeze fresh lemon on top and serve immediately.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI

Ravioli or not, the combination of nutty squash in fresh pasta was delicious.

I used to blame it on the slow eater of the family several of us playing with stuff on the table, moving items into symmetrical arrangements, folding napkins into tiny triangles, drawing in the salt we spilled on the plate, stacking up those small disposable containers that your cream or honey mustard came in, now we are at a restaurant. Well loads of fun for sure, but nothing to do with boredom because we all of us are talkers and we all want to be next to add to the topic at hand. No, it is never boring at the table. It’s as if the hands have to do something even while otherwise occupied. Did I modeled this to my kids or I just passed on the OCD gene?  

Sometimes I play with the food even while cooking. The result will be like an overworked painting. Who can forget? An idea pops into your head at 2AM and you sneak out of bed and do just this one thing on the canvas and then two hours later you hear “Come back to bed I have to go to work in the morning”. Which is what I did to the ravioli when I morphed it into a tortellini, except not exactly. And it wasn’t 2AM it would have been sometimes in the afternoon and only last year. Maybe that’s how most pasta forms were invented… by OCD cooks.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI

Filling:

1 1/4 pounds butternut squash

2 Tbsp plain cookies, crumbled [I used arrowroot cookies]

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 grated lemon grated zest

salt to taste

1 batch Egg Pasta

1 Tbsp light oil + 3 Tbsp melted butter 

You could just cook the squash in the microwave but you will have ample time to roast it; you are also making fresh pasta.

• Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  
• Cut the squash into large pieces, remove the seeds and pulp and bake it for 30 minutes or until soft.
• In the meantime make the fresh pasta then set it aside.
• Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool.
• Scrape out the flesh and let it drain in a fine mash sieve for 15 minutes.
• Transfer the cookies to a food processor and pulse to grind.
• Add the fully drained squash, parmesan cheese, and lemon zest.
• Add salt to taste and pulse the mixture to puree.
• Next roll out the pasta dough to a thin sheet.
• If you rolling the pasta by hand, cut the pasta sheet into 4 inch wide strips.
• If you are using a pasta machine the pasta will already be in strips.
• Arrange small scoops of the filling, about the size of an egg yolk, on one side of the pasta strips and then fold it over and cut rectangles around the mounds of filling.
• Seal the edges of really well. The filling is very soft so if the ravioli comes apart in the boiling water it will just disintegrate.
• Cook the ravioli in a large pot of salted boiling water a bit past al dente.
• Keep an eye on it. This is fresh pasta so it will cook much faster than commercial pasta.
• Scoop the cooked ravioli out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain it in a fine mash sieve for a few minutes.
• In the meantime melt the butter in a non stick skillet and add the ravioli to cook it through. Serve immediately.