Go Against the Grain with Gluten Free Ravioli

No need to avoid the delicious taste of fresh, homemade pasta with this recipe for gluten free sweet potato ravioli. Filled with sweet potato and goat’s cheese, these parcels make an authentic Italian dinner that everyone will enjoy.  What’s more, the goat’s cheese can also be left out for a dairy free dish.

Sweet potatoes, which are full of vitamins, minerals and high in fibre, are just as delicious in the summer as they are available all year round. Unlike regular potatoes, they count as one of your five-a-day, and can be used to replace all sorts of ingredients in everyday cooking.

The Love Sweet Potatoes campaign is designed to tell consumers about the benefits of sweet potatoes and of all the different ways they can be used. The North Carolina farming family at Scott Farms is behind the campaign and has been growing sweet potatoes for over four generations. They are now the largest importer of sweet potatoes into the UK.

For more information please visit www.lovesweetpotatoes.com.

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Ravioli

Serves 4 as main course

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

For the filling

1 large baked sweet potato, cold

100g goat’s cheese

2tsp chopped thyme

½tsp grated nutmeg

For the pasta

250g gram flour (chick peas), sifted, plus extra for dusting

2 eggs

For the sauce

2tbsp rapeseed oil

5 garlic cloves, crushed but still left in cloves

1-2 chillies, cut into large pieces

200g choi-sum, cut into pieces and the white part separated from the leaves

Leftover cooked sweet potato from the filling, broken into small chunks

4tbsp extra virgin olive or rapeseed oil

30g toasted pine nuts

Salt and cracked black pepper

Method

Make the filling by crushing 200g of the baked sweet potato in a bowl with a fork and mix with the goat’s cheese, thyme and nutmeg. Adjust the seasoning and keep cold.

Make the pasta by putting the flour on a work surface and create a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the well and mix together. Carry on kneading until the pasta feels like ‘playdoh’.

Roll the pasta in small quantities with a rolling pin until you reach the thickness you desire and cut out circles with a 9cm diameter cutter.

Place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of the pasta. Fold over the other side of the pasta to create a half moon and press around the edges to seal the parcels. Place on a tray sprinkled with a little flour, ready to cook later.

To make the sauce cook the rapeseed oil, garlic and chillies in a hot sauté pan for a couple of minutes or until light golden. Add the white part of the choi-sum, cover the pan and leave to wilt for 2 minutes. Add the sweet potato chunks and green part of the choi sum, cover and remove from the heat.

In the meantime, cook the ravioli in a large pan of gently boiling salted water for approximately 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your pasta.

When the ravioli are cooked, drain and toss into the sauce with the olive oil. If the sauce is too dry add a couple of spoonfuls of the water used to cook the ravioli. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and serve.

Tips

·         Choi sum can be replaced for purple sprouting cabbage, spinach, asparagus or even a mix of all of them.

·         The ravioli can be made in larger quantities and frozen. They will need to be cooked from frozen, with an extra 2-3 minutes added to the cooking time.

Per serving (based on serves 4)

685kcal

30.5g protein

38.8g fat

10.7g saturates

60.4g carbs

14.1g sugar

10.5g fibre

1g salt

851mcg vitamin A

© Felice Tocchini 2014

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