WARNING, this is going to be a long one. I tested my own ability to create food. The result, in my eyes, was more art than food. But it tasted otherworldly. The flavor combinations worked. Everything "clicked". So this is a warning, turn back if you do not want to engage with a very long post, and turn back if you do not want to listen to the mental anguish as I stood in the kitchen for what seems like endless hours. Carry on if you want to see this artwork unfold. I present to you my creation:
Wild African Sage Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Ravioli
in a Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce
I always tell the people who know I make my own pasta that you only make ravioli for those you really love. I have only made it once before. I decided that I needed some self-love, so I made myself ravioli! I had a flavor combination in mind for a very long while, and now I finally tested it in the most difficult way possible. It took two days to complete, but you can make it in one. It will take you longer. I think I started at 12:00 with the filling and I only took the first bite at 15:30. I started the pasta earlier in the morning and I started the fire-roasted peppers the day before.
This dish has three parts: (1) pasta; (2) filling; and, (3) sauce. Herewith are the three different ingredient lists:
The filling is basically just:
Various different ways exist to make past. I follow the simple rule of less water to flour. Herewith is the pasta ratios:
This creates a very dry pasta but it is perfect in my opinion. It gets you the closest to al dente from freshly made pasta. I have never had any success with egg pasta to achieve al dente.
The sauce is basically just fire-roasted peppers. It gives you a unique smokey flavor you cannot achieve from just an open flame on your gas stovetop. Herewith are the ingredients for the sauce:
The method is also divided into three sections. Again, the (1) filling, (2) fire-roasted peppers and sauce, and (3) making the ravioli.
I started by cutting the onions in a very specific and strange way. Apparently, it is the Michelin star way because it takes forever. But it yields the smallest pieces of onion, thus resulting in a quicker sauce. I use a method borrowed from the Ethiopian dish Doro Wat. I basically cook the onions until they fall apart, resulting in a very flavorful sauce. See how I did it:
Here I chopped the onions in this strange method resulting in smallish cubes.
Two onions yielded in a lot of onion! It is basically just because you chopped it finely so it looks like more.
Slowly cook the onions and garlic with a little bit of oil. No salt or sugar!
Stir every once in a while adding a bit of water if it starts to burn. You do not want them to have too much color. At this stage, I added some of the African sage. I did not want it to burn.
After a while, you will see them basically turn into a sauce.
The onions are thus done!
Now you do the same with the sweet potato. Rather than cook it in the traditional way, cut it into smaller cubes.
Add some oil and let them get some color.
Cook them until you can smash them smoothly. The result is a very sweet sweet potato!
At this stage, I still had my sanity. I did not know what lay ahead. In any case, you mix the two together and subsequently create a smoothish paste.
I used a basic masher and it did a wonderful job!
At this stage, I added even more African sage as it did not quite have a prominent enough taste.
At this stage, I wanted to do something that made me question my sanity. If I hadn't already had enough work, I wanted to laminate the pasta sheets with Marog (African spinach/Amaranth) leaves. The stems are quite hard, so I needed to take the stems out and blanch them before the lamination process could begin.
I took out every stem of each leave. At this stage, I really wondered: Am I sane?
A quick blanch just to soften the leaves.
And then straight into the ice bath.
Dry off each leaf so that not too much water is added to the pasta.
If I had to roll out the pasta by hand, I would really have lost it. At this stage in the battle, you just carry on, you cannot turn back and you cannot stop. You just proceed and add more numerous amounts of steps to the process because why not?
Anyways, place a leaf between two sheets of pasta, as shown below:
Let it go through the pasta machine.....
Okay, it did not go as planned, but it still looked impressive. Especially the end product, which you will see below.
Now the hard work begins. Before the pasta dries out too much, place a small amount of filling evenly spaced out.
Place another sheet over them and begin to press down on the empty spaces.
Cut into individual pieces. And begin to shape each ravioli. The most important part is to get every air pocket out! If there are air pockets, they will explode when you boil them, resulting in the filling oozing out. If you haven't lost your sanity by now, this is how they will look:
I like the pattern of the leaf, even though it is not perfect!
As mentioned, I had some coals the previous night, so I roasted them over the coals. An intense flavor was released by the peppers absorbing the smoke.
After resting in the fridge overnight, I needed to remove the burnt skins.
You are then left with the most intense peppers ever. I love this stuff. It is the best food in my opinion.
Now the sauce itself. I begin again by chopping some onions and garlic.
If the work was not enough already, I needed to mash the peppers.
I added some nuts for that extra bit of flavor.
Add this "pesto" to the onions and garlic, and add some pasta water to begin to make the sauce. So the sauce element is in tandem with the boiling of the ravioli! See below:
By now I thought, okay, I lost it. But I pushed through.
I had 16 ravioli but I only made 8 or so for lunch. Get them ready!
Add them to already boiling water. It is fresh pasta, so it cooks very quickly. I think I boiled mine between 3-5 minutes. Because they dried out a bit (whilst I made more ravioli) they were not technically fresh pasta. But the result was al dente ravioli! I was so proud, and not one burst open.
Tip: They will float when they are cooked.
I transferred them to the sauce I already made. I added extra pasta water and olive oil. You will finish them in the sauce.
At this stage, I could not believe that everything went according to plan. The flavors clicked, the ravioli was (i) al dente and (ii) none of them burst open. I could not wait to dig in!
After what felt like a whole day's worth of cooking, I finally sat down to eat this food. I looked at it at first and thought to myself:
This is more art than food.
What human spends this amount of time for such little amount of food? Well, I did and I can tell you that this is the best thing I have ever made in my life. I did not want to finish it, I wanted more.
The filling was gooey and smooth, the pasta was al dente, and the smokey sauce complimented the sage flavor. The ridges of the pasta sucked in the sauce, and I felt like a chef for a moment. I felt like I did something right.
At the end of the day, I felt like a champ. The kitchen was clean, I made something amazing, an art piece, and I felt good. Then I realized how much time had passed and I contemplated if it really was worth it. I do not know, you be the judge on that!
In any case, the photographs are all mine, taken with my iPhone. The recipe is also my own invention after many weeks of "fermentation" in my mind. This post is very long and I do not even know if I have any readers left! But here I am, still alive after cooking something as elaborate as this. Happy cooking, and stay well!
