Buckwheat grows in barren soil and is very tedious to harvest. It is no surprise that it does not have a priority spot in supermarkets. Such a shame, though, since there are wonderful regional specialties from the south side of the Alps with buckwheat flour, such as Slovenian buckwheat ravioli and black polenta in Ticino and in the Provence.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2 cups buckwheat flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
For the Filling
- 1 white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 10½ oz (300 g) red kuri (hokkaido) squash or eggplant
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 5½ oz (150 g) burrata (Italian fresh cheese)
- 12 wild garlic leaves
- ground chili powder or red pepper flakes
- freshly ground nutmeg
- salt
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup shredded Alpine cheese
How to Make It
- For the dough, mix flours and salt in a bowl. Pour in ¾ cup boiling water and thoroughly mix. Allow to cool. Separate one egg and set the egg white aside. Knead the egg and egg yolk into the flour mixture until you have a smooth dough. Cover and let rest at least 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, peel the onion and garlic; cut in half and slice thinly. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and also slice thinly; alternatively, peel, quarter, and cut the eggplant into fine slices. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onions, garlic, and squash, covered, until very soft. Remove from heat and mash with a fork or potato masher; let cool.
- While the mashed vegetables cool, coarsely chop the burrata and wild garlic leaves; set some of the chopped wild garlic leaves aside. Gently mix the cooled squash mixture with the burrata and wild garlic. Season to taste with salt, ground chili powder, and nutmeg.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 1⁄16 in (2 mm) thick and cut out circles about 4 in (10 cm) in diameter. Scoop 1 tablespoon of filling onto each circle and brush the edges with egg whites. Fold the circles into half moons and press the edges together with a fork.
- Bring a large pot of salted water just to a boil. In another pot, boil the vegetable broth. Cook the ravioli in the lightly boiling salted water for 8–10 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon, allow to drip-dry, and transfer to soup bowls. Ladle broth over the ravioli and serve with chopped wild garlic and grated Alpine cheese.