I'll be honest, ever since the lockdown restrictions started lifting and the sun has come out, I've had what the French refer to as la flemme in the kitchen – a kind of laziness or lack of motivation to do anything, or in my case, an unwillingness to spend hours in a hot kitchen when I could be outside enjoying a picnic on the canal with (or rather, at a safe distance from) friends I haven't seen in months. As a result, we've been eating a lot of salad. I even bought fish sticks once – that's how much I didn't feel like cooking. (Sorry, Laur...)
But last week, inspiration struck. I closed my laptop as soon as my work day was officially over and spent the next several hours deep in the test kitchen vortex, creating a recipe essentially from scratch that I hoped would taste, if not good, at least edible, and be ready preferably before 11 pm. Friends, it was freakin delicious. When Laur took her first bite she made a face that I won't describe because my parents read this blog, but let's just say it was very, very good.
Now, this is not a 30-minute weeknight meal to throw together, but it's actually not difficult or labor-intensive as it may seem, and it doesn't require a long list of special ingredients or equipment. It is my favorite kind of meal: one that looks and tastes more complicated than it is. Essentially I roasted some cauliflower, caramelized a shallot, and puréed both of those with ricotta and parmesan using my immersion blender (you could also use a regular blender or food processor). Then I made my go-to pasta dough (see the Illustrated Pasta Guide for instructions), and while the dough was resting, I browned some butter with a little garlic, pine nuts, and fresh thyme.
You could certainly make this into other ravioli shapes, but I wanted to share my technique for mezzelune with you because it's so easy. With ravioli you usually layer sheets of pasta dough under and over the filling, and then cut and seal the squares – not that difficult either but the layers of dough is just another step to add. With mezzelune, the folding process is sort of similar to empanadas in that you roll or cut out small circles (I used a cup to cut out the circles), fold them into half moons (here's your Italian lesson of the day: mezze = half, lune = moons), and seal them with a fork. That's it. No pastry cutter, no fancy ravioli mold required. Plus they're so cute!
What are you waiting for? Go forth, dazzle your friends...
Ingredients
For the mezzelune:
*Note: This made way more filling than I needed. After filling about 22 mezzelune, I had two jars of leftover filling. You could reduce the amount of cauliflower and ricotta (keep the rest more or less the same), or just freeze the leftovers for the future.
1 batch of pasta dough
1/2 - 2/3 head of cauliflower - cut into florets
250 g ricotta
75 g parmesan (or grana padano) cheese
1 shallot (or 2 if they're small) - thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil
For the brown butter "condimento"/sauce:
100 g butter (I use unsalted but either is fine, just adjust the seasoning accordingly)
1 clove garlic - minced
Generous handful of pine nuts
A few sprigs of fresh thyme - leaves only (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Steps
Preheat oven to 350ºF/170ºC. Lightly toss cauliflower florets in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a glass pan until soft and browned, at least 30 minutes. Roast it slower and on lower heat than you would when serving it as a side so that the inside gets nice and soft and the outside brown and caramelized.
In the meantime, make the pasta dough and set aside, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
In a medium saucepan, caramelize shallot in butter or olive oil on low heat until soft and brown. This will take much less time than if you were caramelizing onions, so watch it to make sure it doesn't crisp or burn.
If cauliflower still feels firm at all, add it in batches to the shallot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, and use a masher or fork to mash the cauliflower a bit. Continue until all the cauliflower has been added, and add water as necessary. This will help everything to soften before puréeing. Remove from heat once cauliflower is very tender and all the liquid has evaporated, and allow to cool. (You may wish to jump to step 6 if you'd like the mixture to cool longer.)
Use an immersion blender or food processor to purée the cauliflower mixture until smooth. Then add ricotta, parmesan, and nutmeg and pulse until combined. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and/or more nutmeg as necessary. Conserve in the refrigerator until ready to use. TIP: Make the cauliflower filling the day before for a quicker dinner.
Make the brown butter: Melt butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until frothy. Add minced garlic and allow to brown lightly, then add pine nuts and continue to cook until the garlic and pine nuts are golden and the butter has browned to a deep golden color. The milk solids in the butter (the little bits floating in the bottom) should be just barely dark brown without turning black, and the rest of the butter liquid should be a rich caramel color. Keep a close eye on it as it goes from perfect to burnt very quickly. (See color swatch above.) When you've reached the perfect color, remove from heat and stir in the thyme. Set aside.
Cut a quarter of the pasta dough off and wrap the rest back up. On a floured surface, roll it out into a very thin sheet, until you can just barely see your hand through it. Using a cup (~8 cm/3-3.5 inches in diameter) or a cookie cutter, cut out as many circles of dough as you can fit, and then roll the remaining dough back into a disk. Repeat until you've used all the pasta dough, or made as many circles as you need for your desired serving size.
Get out the cauliflower mixture, a small spoon, a fork, and a small dish of water. Add about a tablespoon of mixture to the middle of each circle. Then dip your finger in the water and lightly wet the inside edges of each circle. Fold the edges of the circle together and lightly seal with your fingers, trying not to get any water on the outside part of the dough. Use a fork to press the edges sealed and create a nice fluted pattern. Set aside on a plate or baking sheet coated with semolina flour. Repeat until all mezzelune have been made.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. TIP: When I say heavily salted, I mean salty like the sea. They don't cook long, so you need a lot of salt for it to absorb at all.
Add the mezzelune to the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, until they rise to the top of the water and have become slightly more translucent in color. Conserve a cup of pasta water and add by the tablespoon if the pasta is dry or sticking.
Meanwhile, add the brown butter back to low heat. When cooked (al dente), add strained mezzelune to the butter, stirring to coat.
Serve immediately with more grated parmesan.
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