Recipe - Broccoli Ravioli With Shallots And Lemon Balm (Tuscan)

THE DOUGH
1 cup Unbleached white flour
4 tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
One half cup Semolina flour
One fourth teaspoon Salt
Cold water

THE FILLING
Broccoli florets from
1 pound Broccoli
One fourth teaspoon Fresh grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon Minced shallot
2 tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
8 Leaves lemon balm; minced

THE SAUCE
2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
2 lg Shallots; peeled and minced
1 md Carrot; scraped and minced
1 small Celery stalk; remove strings
and mince
1 cup Vegetable broth
2 tablespoon Fineground polenta
Salt and pepper
16 Leaves lemon balm

1. Place all the ingredients for the dough in a large bowl. Using your
hands, mix until well blended, adding water as needed to create a soft,
springy dough. Rub some olive oil on the dough and in an oiled bowl covered
with a dish towel, let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the broccoli florets in boiling salted water until
tender. Drain and chop finely. Add the remaining filling ingredients and
blend well.

3. Roll the dough into a 12inch Square approximately 1/8inch thick. Using
a juice glass or ravioli cutter, cut 12 3inch dimater circles. Fill each
circle with 1 teaspoon broccoli filling, making sure to place the filling
only on one half of the circle. Using your finger or a small pastry brush,
moisten the outer rim of the circle with water. Fold the ravioli in half
and press shut.

4. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a skillet and saute the shallots,
carrot, and celery over low heat for 7 minutes or until soft. Add the broth
and whisk in the polenta, stirring to create a soupy paste. Season with
salt and pepper. Chiffonade the lemon balm leaves by shredding finely with
a sharp knife.

5. Cook the ravioli for 68 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water.
Remove carefully with a slotted spoon to a heated platter.

6. To serve, spoon 2 tablespoons sauce onto each of 4 plates, top with a
few slivers of lemon balm chiffonade, and arrange three ravioli in a
triangular pattern.

SERVES 4, TIME: 1One fourth hours. Moderately difficult. mcPER SERVING 46% cff:
570cals; 30g fat

MAKE AHEAD: Both the filling and the sauce can be made 6 hours in advance
and refrigerated.

From SOLO VERDURA, by Anne Bianchi (Ecco, 1997). Edited by Pat Hanneman
3/98

Notes: As basil is to a platter of fresh tomatoes... so, too, is lemon balm
to this wonderful dish of delicate ravioli filled with broccoli and bedded
on polenta soffrito. Like basil, lemon balm exudes an unmistakable
fragrance that perfumes anything with which it comes into contact.
SUBSTITUTE: 8 mint leaves and a teaspoon of lemon zest. Reserve the
broccoli stems for another recipe.

Recipe by: SOLO VERDURA, by Anne Bianchi

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Mar 26,
1998