Beet Ravioli

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time! I roasted up some fresh beets, which really is my favourite way to eat beets. I got some nice goat cheese and some creme fraiche and thought it was going to be absolutely amazing. So, I dumped it all into the food processor and whirled it up. Leaving aside the look of it (think horror movie) I was certain it would taste great. Problem one was no texture...problem two is that something about the processing took away any trace of that rich beet flavour that I love so much.
I read that almonds go with beets so I dumped in some ground almonds...this did not help. I should have roasted the almonds at the very least, and I probably should have done a rough chop on some actual almonds instead of using ground ones.
I added some mint leaves, more salt and pepper, and it tasted marginally better, but still not what I was looking for, but I'm not giving up. I am going to try again and leave the food processor out of the equation, and try to find some stronger tasting goat cheese.
Anyway... I rolled out some fresh pasta and made the ravioli...at this point I was rushing so I didn't flour the dough sheets before I used the egg to glue them together so they never really stuck the way they should have, but they held together. They looked nice enough after they cooked!
I juiced and zested an orange and reduced it with some creme fraiche and finished it off with butter. THIS WORKED!
The orange really brought out the beets and the flavour lingered in my mouth afterwards (but like an old friend you want to keep talking to, not like the obnoxious guy at last call in the bar).
I'm going to try again, but take more time to get the flavours where I want them to be. I keep feeling like this will eventually be a good dish.
In the end, I used the rest of the beets and added them to shredded potatoes to make really pretty beet potato pancakes!

It was a beautiful day today and I had a great bike ride! I'm feeling smug about the leftover cannelloni I have in the fridge. Even my failed bechamel sauce (although I truly feel Mario Batalli needs to accept his share of the blame for the saltiness) tastes better after a few days in the fridge with all of the other flavours mingling together. It no longer resembles and tastes like those flour and salt paste maps we used to make in public school!