Apple + Walnut + Kale Ravioli

It's been ravioli night over here every Monday for weeks, and I've kept it pretty classic up until now. However, after an assignment photographing what goes on in the kitchen on No-Menu Monday at Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen this week, I felt liberated and ready to push the boundaries of ravioli. I saw the guys stuffing handmade tortellini with creamed corn and serving it with shaved black truffles. Yeah!

So, I thought about what I could do differently in my own kitchen. Apples, onions, walnuts, and kale screamed fall. They came together really well; here's how it went.

For the pasta dough:

1 cup semolina flour

1/2 cup AP flour

2 eggs

Make a well with the mixed flours. Crack the eggs in the middle and mix with your fingers until dough forms. Knead it for 5 minutes. Wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

For the filling:

1/2 white onion

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 Pink Lady apple, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup white wine

1 bunch kale:

- veins and stems removed

- blanched in very salty water

- squeezed dry

1 clove of garlic

sea salt & cracked pepper

6 whole walnuts

1 spoonful of ricotta

1/2 slice of white bread

1 egg

lemon zest

Start with onions sliced into half-moons in a medium-low pan with olive oil. You want them to caramelize. Once the onions begin to brown, add the white wine and then the apple slices. Place the onion-apple mixture, kale, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, pecans, ricotta, bread, and lemon zest in food processor and pulse until it's well-incorporated but still a little chunky. Set aside in the fridge.

For the sauce:

4 medium green zebra tomatoes

1/2 onion

2 ribs of celery

1/2 green pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

a splash of white balsamic vinegar

small knob of butter

Finely dice the veg. Put it all in a saucepan -- along with olive oil -- on medium, and add white wine and vinegar once the vegetables start to get a little brown. Add butter at the end.

Assembly:

Roll out this dough to a #6 on the pasta maker. Trim the raggedy edges with a pizza cutter. Add about 2 tsp. of the filling to the along the sheet of pasta but leave an inch on each side of filling: you are going to fold the top over. Use a pasta tool to seal the front edge and sides. Cook in salty boiling water; as soon as they float, keep them in for another minute. Remove with slotted spoon and put them straight into the sauce. You may want to top it with parsley and parm. Ready to go! All the trouble will definitely be worth it.