Valentine's Beet Tortellini Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Mushrooms And A Black Cherry Martini

The tortellini will bring savory flavors while the martini with bring the sweet. It's a masculine and feminine dish that has balanced flavors and works together in perfect harmony.

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Black Cherry Martini

Ingredients:

• 2oz Black Cherry Juice

• 2oz Vodka

• 2oz Lemon-Lime Soda

• Ice

• Sugar to garnish the Martini Glass or a Maraschino Cherry

Instructions:

1.) Place Ice, Cherry juice, Vodka, and Lemon-Lime Soda in a shaker. Shake until mixed and pour into a glass rimmed with Sugar, and or garnished with a cherry.

Beet Tortellini with a Mushroom and Goat Cheese Stuffing

Ingredients for the Beet Pasta:

• 1 Medium beet (about 3oz)

• 3 Large Eggs

• 1 Large Yolk

• 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 

• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Ingredients for the Mushroom Filling

• 4 cups (12oz) of maitake mushrooms or any other mushroom chopped very finely

• 1 garlic clove minced or 1 teaspoon minced garlic from a jar

• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

• Salt freshly ground pepper to taste

• 2 ounces creamy goat cheese (There was a lot of pasta and stuffing so I used the whole 4oz package for mine)

Ingredients for the Garlic Sage Sauce

• 3 garlic cloves sliced in half

• 1/4 cup good quality olive oil

• 4 sage leaves plus more for garnish

Instructions for the Pasta:

1.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Cut the leaves and the "tail" off of the beet and then wash and dry it. Rub it with olive oil and then sprinkle with kosher salt before wrapping it in a square of aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until it is easy to pierce with a knife or fork. Let it cool down and then peel the skin off of it.

3.) Place the beet in a food processor or blender and blend until it's a puree.

4.) Add your eggs, yolk, and olive oil and process until it's just mixed which should only be a few pulses.

5.) Add in your flour and salt to the mix and pulse a few more times. The dough will be crumbly. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead your dough for about 10 minutes until it's smooth and has a bright pink color.

6.) Wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag and refrigerate anywhere from 2-24 hours.

***Have your filling made before proceeding with the next step***

7.) Work in small batches and refrigerate what you're not working with at that moment. You can roll the dough out to the desired thickness using a rolling pin, but if you're using a pasta maker like I did, I would stop on level 6. It should be thin, but not so much that it risks breaking open in the cooking process.

Instructions for the Mushroom Filling:

1.) Add either olive oil or butter to a saute pan. Heat over medium heat.

2.) Add in your garlic and cook until lightly toasted. Then add in your mushrooms. Cook until their juices have been absorbed and season with salt and pepper. Take off of the heat and set aside to cool while you roll out your Tortellini pasta circles.

Instructions to Make the Tortellini:

1.) Using a glass or cookie cutter with a 3-inch diameter, cut circles out of your pasta and fill as you go so your dough is fresh.

2.) Using a 50/50 ratio add your goat cheese to the same amount as your mushrooms into the center of the pasta circle.

3.) We the tip of your finger with water and run it on half of your pasta circle. Fold the dough over the filling so that you make a half circle with the dry part of the dough connecting with the wet part. Squeeze out as much air as you can when doing this so they don't puff up in the cooking process.

4.) Then wet the outside of one of the tips and fold it so that the dry opposite tip connects with the wet tip and press lightly to connect them.

5.) Place the finished tortellini on a floured baking sheet ( I also lined my baking sheet with parchment), and place in the freezer. You don't need to thaw them before cooking and these can freeze for 1 month.

Instructions for the Garlic Sage Sauce:

1.) In a large saute pan, add your Olive Oil, Sage, and Garlic and cook over medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes until the garlic halves are golden and the sage is crispy.

2.) Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling salted water, add in your tortellini. You don't have to thaw them if you decide to freeze them prior to this step. Boil them for about 5 minutes. They will float and their edges will be soft when they're ready.

3.) From there remove them from the boiling water onto a plate with a paper towel to absorb most of the moisture. Then transfer them to your pan of garlic, sage, and olive oil. Cook them for a few minutes to slightly toast them. Add them to a plate and garnish with the garlic, crispy sage, and some parmesan if you wish.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I wish you a very lovely Valentine's even if you're by yourself. Good on you for making this pasta! -Heather Autumn