Making homemade pasta is one of my favorite things to do, for so many different reasons! I find it to be super relaxing, it's always easier than I remember it to be, and the pasta comes out so delicious so it's always worth every minute. I always love trying out different shapes and fillings, and even different naturally colored pasta. I've made squid ink pasta before, but with Valentine's Day, I knew I wanted to try out a pink pasta. While I assumed food coloring could be an option, I knew I wanted to naturally dye this pasta (and spare my counters!) so beet juice seemed like the perfect option!
With the pink pasta idea in mind, I knew I wanted to go a step further and make some heart shaped ravioli, which are made so easy by using a cookie cutter. These pink four cheese heart shaped ravioli are so festive and cute, and believe me when I say they are absolutely delicious and worth every second. Ready in under an hour and a half, these would be such a fun dinner idea or weekend afternoon project.
You'll start by making the pink pasta dough which I promise could not be easier. In a medium bowl, you'll add the flour, make a little well in the center, and crack the eggs into the well. You'll then scramble the yolks with a fork, then pour the beet juice into the eggs. The beet juice is perfect to make this pink pasta because it is so vibrant, but the flavor of the beets isn't noticeable at all in the cooked pasta. Using the fork, mix the flour and eggs together.
Once the dough is beoming fairly combined, you'll place it on a lightly floured surface, and knead it by hand until it's smooth and consistent in color, in about 10 minutes. You can use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment to knead the dough if you like, but I find with a colored pasta you have more control over the consistency if you knead it by hand. I know it can be tempting, but make sure even when it looks smooth to keep kneading and not skimp on the number of minutes. Once consistent set the dough on the counter, cover it with a bowl, and let it rest for 30 minutes. This is the most important step, so make sure not to skip it!
While the dough is resting, it's time to make the filling. I LOVE this filling, not only because it's a four cheese filling (which, of course, is going to be amazing), but also because if you're like make and don't totally love ricotta, this filling is for you because it's packed with flavor and lightened up in texture compared with a plain ricotta ravioli. For the filling you'll need-
The filling is as easy as combining these in a medium bowl, making sure that everything is well mixed together, and setting this in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes and the filling is prepared, it's time to make the ravioli! I promise you, they're really quite easy and I think fun to make. Here is the gist, with more detail in the recipe card below-
And that's that! Two things I think are important to mention are that homemade pasta is supposed to be pretty darn thin once rolled out, but with ravioli I do find it very helpful to keep it slightly thicker so that it can hold the filling without tearing. The other thing to keep in mind is these by no means need to look perfect, and I found them to be extra pretty given that each of them were a little unique.
So I knew that I didn't want to make a sauce that was going to detract from the color of these ravioli, but I also knew I didn't want a dry ravioli, so this white wine vinegar butter was absolutely perfect! Similarly to the sauce for our Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce, our mom has also always emphasized how something like a splash of some type of vinegar can brighten up a sauce so much, just like this white wine vinegar sauce. Once you have a large pot of salted water boiling, the sauce is as easy as-
Ravioli in butter are of course delicious, but this sauce is definitely elevated by the white wine vinegar, and just a little fancier in my opinion, which is extra perfect for Valentine's Day.
Once the sauce is done, drop those ravioli into the boiling water, in batches, and cook, stirring occassionally, until they float to the top. One tip for making ravioli is to keep your water at a slow boil, as opposed to aggressively bubbling which can potentially cause the ravioli to open. Once done, lift the ravioli out of the water and immediately add them to the sauce, gently stirring until they're coated. If they seem dry, add a little of the pasta cooking water as needed.
Serve these immediately, with extra freshly grated parmesan, of course, and enjoy these homemade pink heart shaped ravioli that are delicious, pretty, fun, and perfect for Valentine's Day or any other special night.
These Valentine's Day homemade pink four cheese heart shaped ravioli are delicious, fun to make, slightly elevated, filled with the perfect combination of cheeses, and tossed in a buttery white wine vinegar sauce.
Servings: 2
There may be leftover filling depending on the size of your ravioli.
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