Sweet Potato & Swiss Chard Ravioli
With Anchovy Paste and (Optional) Sourdough Discard Pasta Dough
Seasonal, salty, sweet, and (I apologize for my over-use of alliteration) super simple.
Don't be scared off by the anchovy paste. Like miso in cookies (hi Martine) or Worcestershire sauce in salad dressing, it adds umami and complexity without fishy-ness.
I feel like the word "umami" is over-used (or incorrectly used) a lot in the food blogging space, but it really is the best way to describe the flavour here. When I made these ravioli for dinner last night, my roommate said it was potentially the best thing I've ever made – which is saying something, because she's been my main taste-tester for many months now.
This recipe uses seasonal Winter ingredients and is very low-waste (incorporating the stems and leaves of the Swiss chard and making good use of my seemingly endless sourdough discard). If you want to make it virtually zero-waste, you can totally keep the skin on the sweet potatoes for added texture. It's also dairy-free, if that's your thing (yes, I am that person who eats meat but avoids lactose).
Recipe
Ravioli Filling
3 large shallots or 1 onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes
1 bunch of Swiss chard
1 1/2 tbsp of anchovy paste (or 2-3 anchovies)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt + pepper
Sourdough Discard Pasta Dough (Adapted from I Am Homesteader)
185 g (1 1/2 cups) flour
135 g (1/2 cup) sourdough discard
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Start by making your pasta dough so that it can rest in the fridge for at least an hour (up to overnight). The filling recipe makes enough for a double batch of the pasta dough, but I like to save half the filling and use it in a galette or some hand pies just to keep my leftovers interesting, so I made a single batch of the dough. If making by hand: whisk eggs and sourdough starter until homogenous. Mix the flour and salt together, then make a well in the center and add the sourdough egg mixture. Using a fork, slowly incorporate into the flour until a shaggy dough forms, then knead the dough together by hand. Continue kneading until smooth. If using a stand mixer: add all ingredients to the bowl with the dough hook attached. Mix on low until a dough ball forms, then remove and knead for about a minute by hand. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
To make the filling, start peeling your sweet potatoes and chopping into 1-inch chunks. Steam or boil the sweet potatoes until fork-tender, then drain and mash. Set aside or place in the refrigerator to cool.
Finely dice your shallots/onion and mince your garlic.
De-stem your Swiss chard (remove the green leaves from the reddish-purple stems). Finely dice the stems and cut the leaves into thin strips, keeping the stems and leaves separate.
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet, dutch oven, or pot over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add in the shallots/onion and garlic.
Sauté the shallots/onion and garlic with salt to taste until just starting to brown. You might be tempted to move on after the allium starts sweating, but be patient; you want a little browning on everything for depth of flavour.
Add in the Swiss chard stems and sauté until softened.
Now you want to add the anchovy paste (or anchovies), red pepper flakes, and thyme. It's important to do this now, before adding the Swiss chard leaves, for even distribution, and so that the anchovy paste can cook down a little. It will smell (almost overwhelmingly) fishy when you add the paste, but don't worry - that smell will go away, and will not translate to a fishy-tasting pasta. The end result is complex and salty, but doesn't taste like seafood.
Stir everything together and cook for a few minutes, then add the Swiss chard strips. Turn heat down to low, and continue cooking until the Swiss chard is wilted and the moisture has evaporated. Anytime I use the word "jammy" I feel like a Bon Appétit writer, but that's the texture you're going for here.
Take off the heat and add the Swiss chard mixture to the mashed sweet potatoes. Let this cool down to room temperature before starting to assemble your ravioli. Alternatively, the filling can be made 2-3 days in advance and refrigerated, but like most things, it tastes best fresh.
Once the filling has cooled and the pasta dough has rested, roll your pasta dough (I used the pasta machine that the lovely Karina gave me from her kitchen when she moved to Paris). Place teaspoons of the filling on the dough, moisten around the filling, and cover with a second piece of dough. Cut into whatever beautiful ravioli shapes your heart desires. If you're looking for some inspiration, might I suggest looking through Lily's Instagram feed?
The ravioli only takes a couple minutes in boiling salted water to cook.
I played around with a few sauce options, but in the end, my favourite way to serve these ravioli was with some salted browned butter, grated parmesan, and freshly cracked black pepper. I promise you the filling is flavourful enough to shine through such a simple sauce.
Notes
Vegan-ize it: The only ingredient that isn't plant-based in the filling is the anchovy paste. The best substitution would be an equal amount of miso paste. As for the pasta itself, I have yet to experiment with egg-free dough, but welcome any recommendations! There are a plethora of vegan pasta dough recipes online, and I will update this when I can recommend a specific one.
Leftover filling? What a happy accident! Use it to make hand pies or as the filling for a galette (absolutely no shame in the store-bought puff pastry/pie crust game, but for homemade dough I recommend Claire Saffitz's recipe). Alternatively, place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper, moisten the edges, fold it in half or crab-rangoon style, and fry in neutral oil. I've tried all of the above options, and they're all delicious.
With every close-up shot of my hand holding food, I become increasingly aware of my need to moisturize.