To complement the cauli, a really strong cheese sauce might be tasty.

I think a browned butter-balsamic sauce would go well with the sweet spices in your filling. I like a 2 parts browned butter to 1 part balsamic ratio, but you can adjust to taste. Brown the butter and when it is quite hot, add the balsamic vinegar, reduce it just a little then turn off the heat and pour over the ravioli. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lee

That sounds good! Or lemon juice. And, of course, make sure the butter is adequately salted and that you get a light brown color.

Wow, those ideas sound interesting. I never tried mixing an acid with brown butter (balsamic or lemon juice), it sounds like it would cut the thick mouthfeel and make it a little lighter.

I did a brown butter, but I didn't pay attention and it turned to black butter :) I tossed that and tried again, but I think I was oversensitized to burning it and removed it too early. It came out more like blonde butter [aka melted butter :)]

Islay, cheese may overpower the sweet subtlety of the cauliflower mix, but I am willing to give it a go...

Here are the pix I forgot to post yesterday:

BTW, I've been trying to get one of my pix posted to Tastespotting or Foodgawker, and still no luck :(

Enjoy,
Andy

Two thoughts, could be wrong - horseradish, paprika (good stuff).

I agree that I'd go with a cheese sauce, asiago or something like that with a white wine base.

A soft goat's cheese can be wonderful with cauliflower. Just melted into a little crème fraiche and seasoning. I think I'm going to try your ravioli and my sauce!

Islay,
That definitely piques my interest...For some reason when you mentioned cheese I had a mental vision of cheddar or gruyere. Goat and creme fraiche would be a nice little twang that it needed.

Let me know how it comes out, or if you need the recipe, it was pretty straightforward...

Andy, that looks delicious, I'm not a huge fan of cauliflower but I'll bet it would be delicious with the pancetta and some sage and brown butter sauce. MMMM...

As for Foodgawker and Tastespotting, good luck. I haven't even tried because you have to have a blog which I do not and have no intention of starting, and because my pictures just aren't that good, LOL.

Annie

Could you write out the specifics for the filling; did you make the pasta
yourself? let us know when you try the goat cheese sauce.

Here is my recipe, you can also find it on my blog linked below (not any different than what pasted)

The measurements for the filling you should take with a grain of kosher salt, I kind of wing it a bit and hope to capture the spirit in the written recipe. Â Basically I put in a few shakes here and there of nutmeg, cinnamon and cayenne until it tastes right. Â DonÂt worry, you can do it too!

Ingredients
Makes about 2 dozen ravioli, with some filling to spare.

Fresh pasta dough:
6 oz All Purpose or "OO" flour
2 oz Semolina flour
2 egg yolks
1 whole eggs
White pepper to taste
A smidge of water if needed

Cauliflower filling:
Head of cauliflower
Onion, sliced thin
2 tbl. pancetta
1/2 tsp nutmeg (4 or 5 shakes)
1/4 tsp cinnamon(2 or 3 shakes)
Shake of cayenne
Slice of bread (if needed)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
1/2 stick of butter
A sprig or two of thyme

Directions
Cauliflower filling:
Steam the cauliflower until really soft.
Saute the pancetta, add the onions and carmelize over medium heat.
In a food processor, blend cauliflower, onions, pancetta and spices until smooth.
If the mixture seems too thin, add a slice of bread or two to thicken.

Pasta:
In a bowl beat eggs and yolks
Put flour, semolina, and white pepper into mixer with dough hook.
Mix well, on low and gradually add eggs until incorporated.
It should be a little dry and crumbly, but if too dry add a little water.
Remove and knead dough until it becomes elastic.
Wrap dough with plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
After resting, put the dough through a pasta roller a few times reducing the thickness each time. I use setting #5 on my Kitchen Aid roller for the final thickness.
Use your favorite ravioli makin method. I use a form or freehand, depending on my mood. I made both.

Sauce:
In a hot pan, melt butter
Keep heating until it starts to darken a little. Be careful, my first batch should have been called black butter sauce. Â Yuck.
Add some thyme leaves and remove from heat immediately.
Drizzle onto ravioli, spinkling some extra thyme on top.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to my blog

Thanks for the recipe. I haven't had time to try it yet - new job..but DD is over next week and is a vegetarian and I think she would love that. (I'll have to leave out the pancetta;) Maybe add a little mushroom to hers.

Thanks for the recipe !! I'll keep it bookmarked.

You could add a couple tsp. fake bacon bits to it, I'm a veggie and I do that all the time for flavor. Just make sure you buy the FAKE bacon bits, the kind made with TVP, (textured vegetable protein). Read the label. A little bit of those go a LONG way, so don't overdue. 1 or t tsp. should be enough just for the flavor.

I would cook some asparagus, puree it in a blender or food processor with some lemon juice, fresh mint, s & p, and then add the brown butter to it to make a lovely green sort of pesto-ish sauce.

Browned butter is one of the major food groups in PA Dutch cooking and the trick is to make it in a saucepan with a small bottom area and high sides so it actually boils. When the bubbles creep up the sides, you stir it vigorously to break them. The second time it starts to boil is usually when it's the perfect golden brown color. There are actually little pans with a pour spout used just for making browned butter.