Shadow of Me

Just because I can.....

Paper Chef time.... (#46)

Its always interesting when Paper Chef throws a tricky one at you. Like this month. Dale from Home on the Range was the winner last month so she had the honour of selecting this month's ingredients. The first random ingredient was Pasta - I guess that can be any type or style. next was Chevre - Goat's cheese, a nice smooth creamy cheese which I love. The final random ingredient was Beetroot - a safe versatile ingredient. So far endless possibilities. Then Dale threw in the fourth ingredient of her own selection, Peanut Butter - stunned silence when I read that. What the f&^k am I meant to do with that?? A look at the ingredients of a supermarket Peanut Butter provided no inspiration or clues: peanuts, oil, emulsifiers, sugar, salt, food colouring, preservatives. The Health food store was better. They grind their own peanut butter & the only ingredient was dry roasted peanuts, but the texture was very coarse. Then I remembered that the juicer I have can also (apparently) grind peanuts to a pulp to make peanut butter. Well, at least I would know what's in it.
But what to make to combine all the ingredients?
I settled on Ravioli stuffed with Chevre & roasted Beetroot with a burnt butter & peanut butter sauce. The trick was to meld the flavours without having the peanuts dominate. And, surprisingly, it worked! The peanut butter sauce combined well with the beetroot to give a nice earthiness to the dish.
Note to self: don't leave the finished ravioli out in warm weather - the pasta dried out too much between the trial run & the photo run, cracking & leading to crappy photos.....

Ingredients
100g Chevre
1 medium beetroot
pasta dough (recipe can be found here)
1 tbls smooth peanut butter (homemade or health food store)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
30g butter
2 tbls chopped Coriander

Method
Coat the beetroot in a bit of oil & roast until tender.
Let cool until you can just handle it, & peel.
Grate the beetroot & weigh out about 100g.
Combine the Chevre, salt, pepper & nutmeg in  a bowl then gently fold through the grated beetroot.
Chill while you make your pasta dough (see here).
Use about a small tsp of the mixture for each ravioli, & once sealed set aside until ready for cooking.
Melt the butter in a saucepan & add the peanut butter.
Cook until its a nice light golden brown colour, but watch it as it can go an unappetising dark brown very quickly.
When ready, add 1 tbls of the chopped coriander.
Coat the cooked ravioli in the sauce & serve immediately topped with the remaining coriander.

Awe & Fear

I love the water, the sun, & the surf. But these waves off the coast of Tasmania I'm in awe of, and would never go near them, unlike these surfers.

(photos from The Age website)