Whole Wheat Ravioli with Sweet Potato

One of our more devout readers goes by the moniker of Dr. K., a doctor by training and food lover by way of passion! Dr. K has contributed many guest posts here and his latest is a favorite in the stuffed pasta universe: Whole Wheat Ravioli with Sweet Potato!  Dr. K.’s version of homemade ravioli include whole wheat flour and a very tasty butter sauce.  Here’s the recipe and process:

Dough and Making Ravioli

I started by milling some fresh 100% whole wheat flour from wheat berries (but you can use pretty much any flour but bread flour for this). Added a pinch of salt. Cracked two whole eggs (could just do yolks for a richer but less cohesive dough). Added about a tablespoon of olive oil to make it roll out more easily. Mixed with a fork, then kneaded it by hand till smooth and elastic.  Add a little water as needed if too dry, a little more flour if too moist (depends on how much and what type of flour you started with, how big the eggs were, etc.).  Wrapped it in Saran Wrap and let it rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

Next, I rolled the dough out on a well floured surface till nice and thin, an 1/8th inch or less. Rolled into rectangles and placed dollops (about a tbsp) of mashed sweet potato along one side. Folded the rectangles over lengthwise and pressed the edges together by hand. Also pressed the dough together between the sweet potato filling and then cut into individual pieces (I used a dough scraper for this but a knife would work as well).  Push out any air pockets and refrigerate or cook right away.

For the filling, I just used the mashed sweet potatoes I had made the day before. Peeled a bunch of sweet potatoes, cut into cubes, steamed them till tender, then mashed with salt, pepper, homemade creme fraiche, butter, and fresh grated nutmeg.  You could also use fresh ricotta as a substitute for the creme fraiche.

Sauce

For the sauce, I melted about four tbsp of good local butter from grass fed cows in the pan, squeezed in the juice of one lemon, added some capers and about a fourth of a cup of chopped parsley. Once these were all combined in the pan, I took the pan off the heat and whisked in one whole egg.  I cooked the ravioli in a huge pot of water generously salted at the boil.  They were ready in just a few minutes, and I transferred them to the sauce on, stirring gently to coat. Then plated and served to the delight of my family!  Alternative sauces include butter and sage and cream and grated cheese.

Dr K. advises not be intimidated at the thought of making fresh pasta. No fancy equipment is required and you can get as creative as you want to!  Dr K. had never made fresh homemade ravioli before the guest post above!