Sweet Potato Ravioli with Sautéed Mushroom & Spinach

This dish serves 6

Hope you enjoy it! – Ray

Filling

• 1½ lbs. sweet potatoes
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 ½ tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 2 strips thick cut apple smoked bacon, diced

Remaining Ingredients

• 1 batch of fresh pasta dough (below)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced

Fresh Pasta Dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 2 large eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• Teaspoon of cold water, as needed
• METHOD: Instructions

Equipment

• Pasta Machine

Ravioli:

Preheat oven to 400°F and bake whole sweet potatoes for 75 minutes.
Let cool to room temperature.
Scoop the sweet potato flesh into a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a mixing bowl.
Place the diced bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until tender, but not crispy.
Add the cooked bacon and remaining filling ingredients to the pureed sweet potato.
Mix gently until incorporated.
Bring 4 quarts salted water to a boil.
Lay pasta sheet out on a light floured surface and spoon 1½ tablespoons of filling about two inches apart.
Fold over pasta ensuring there is very little air in the ravioli.
Cut to a 2 to 2 ½ inch square ravioli. Crimp edges with a fork.
Drop the ravioli into the boiling water and cook until the ravioli floats to the surface (about 7 minutes).
While the ravioli cooks, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the sliced mushrooms and thyme until golden brown.
Just prior to plating, add the spinach to the skillet and cook just until slightly wilted.

To serve; working in batches of 4 ravioli at a time, add to mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss lightly to coat. Place the four ravioli on a plate, add freshly ground black pepper to taste, and spoon a portion of sautéed mushrooms and spinach over ravioli. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Repeat with remain ravioli.

Pasta Dough Instructions

Mix both flours in a large bowl and make a well in the center of the flour.
In a small bowl, add the eggs and egg yolks and gently mix together.
Pour the beaten eggs into the flour well.
Using a fork, begin mixing the egg mixture and flour together until a shaggy dough is achieved.
Using your fingers, mix in remaining flour into dough until all the flour has been incorporated.
Add a teaspoon of cold water to the mix if it feels dry.
Remove dough from bowl and knead 4 to 6 minutes, on a floured surface, until the dough is smooth and uniform in color.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature to rest.
Cut the dough mixture into fourths.
Take one fourth of the dough and flatten with the heal of your hand until the dough is roughly the same width as your pasta machine.
Wrap the other dough in the plastic wrap until you are ready to put it through the pasta machine.
The initial setting of the pasta machine is wide (about ¼ inch thick).
Continue sending the dough through the pasta machine with thinner and thinner thickness settings until the dough is almost see-through.
Lay the thin pasta sheet flat on a floured surface.
Continue with ravioli cooking instructions.