Filomena still cooks and works in her vegetable garden. Years ago, when she had too many beetroot, she found a way to use them as a pasta filling. These ravioli are called ‘tortelli con la rapa rossa’ in Italian. They are pretty much unknown in Romagna, but in the Italian Dolomites, beetroot ravioli are popular where they are called ‘casunziei all’Ampezzana’. We’ll be filming them soon.
For the filling, you will need
400g pureed, beetroot, squeezed of juice
200g of soft cheese: cows milk ricotta, robiola – which is difficult to find, so you could use all ricotta.
100g Parmigiano, grated
50g breadcrumbs
1 egg, nutmeg, salt.
Filomena didn’t add it, but I’d be inclined to add a knife tip of ground cloves or allspice to the mixture.