There’s nothing that says “Valentine’s Day” more than the classic, grocery-store bouquet of a dozen red roses.
But we’d argue that a different bouquet would make a preferred gift — perhaps of the pasta variety. Danny Freeman, famed TikTok and Instagram personality (@dannylovespasta), believes that rose-shaped ravioli is the perfect option for a special occasion like the February holiday.
“They're unexpected, they take some effort but are not overly complicated, and represent love,” says Freeman. “Your Valentine might be anticipating a dozen roses, but how happy will they be when those roses turn out to be edible?”
Pasta, he adds, is a comfort food that most people adore — and it’s hard to go wrong with ravioli. If you have special preferences, ravioli is fairly customizable; at-home chefs can stuff the pasta with any filling of their choice, including cheese, a mix of meats, and vegetables.
“Rose-shaped ravioli has been around for years, but it's had a resurgence recently thanks to social media,” Freeman says. “I love making pasta in unconventional shapes, especially ones inspired by nature, flowers, and plants, so rose ravioli was one of the first shapes I made when I started making pasta.”
Freeman’s recipe for the ravioli has garnered more than 40,000 likes on TikTok. Here, he shares the detailed version with Appetito, which starts with subsequent recipes that can be found in his cookbook, Danny Loves Pasta: 75+ fun and colorful pasta shapes, patterns, sauces, and more.
Freeman advises that while the recipe starts with pasta dough from scratch, the process isn’t as difficult as it looks.
His biggest tip is to ensure that the dough isn’t too sticky or wet, so it’s best to keep a bowl with additional flour at the ready. In order to create red pasta for roses, Freeman purees a boiled beet to add it to the dough, but there is a shortcut: use beetroot powder , which can be ordered online. Freeman also says to use a piping bag to add the filling to avoid a mess, and to brush on a bit of water between rose pasta layers so that the ravioli becomes sealed.
Check out the full recipe below.
Danny Loves Pasta’s Rose Ravioli
6-8
servings45
minutes10
minutesIngredients
1 1 batch filling of choice (such as cheese, vegetables, or meat; see chapter 8 of his book)
1 1 batch Beet Pasta Dough (page 50 from his book, or add 1 boiled and pureed beat to pasta dough)
Semolina flour, for dusting
Directions
- Fill a piping bag with filling and cut an opening at the tip about 3⁄4 inch (2 cm) wide. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a spoon.
- Divide the dough into quarters and work with one piece at a time, leaving the rest covered so it doesn’t dry out.
- Roll out a sheet of dough to the thinnest or second-thinnest setting on your pasta machine, or about 1 millimeter thick if rolling by hand.
- Lightly dust a cutting board with our. Use a cookie cutter or the top of a wineglass to
- cut the dough into 3-inch (7.5 cm) circles.
- Lay four circles next to each other in a row but have them overlap by about 50 percent.
- Starting about 1⁄2 inch (1 cm) from the left end of the circles, pipe a row of filling across the center, stopping about 1⁄2 inch (1 cm) from the right side.
- Pick up the bottom edge of the circles and fold it up over the filling so it’s even with the top edge. Press down firmly around the filling so it doesn’t leak out, making sure not to leave any air bubbles (see Note 1).
- Rotate the pasta 90 degrees, so it’s vertical on your surface. Lift the bottom edge and roll the pasta as if you’re rolling up a sleeping bag (see Note 2).
Notes
- 1. If your two layers aren’t sticking together, brush a little water in between them to act as a glue.
- 2. If you’ve used too much filling, this might be difficult, but it’s okay to roll the pasta up a little more loosely.
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