Raw Food Wednesday: Beet Ravioli, Fennel Pizza, Fennel and Apple Soup, Kohlrabi and Mache Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 10/22

Beet Ravioli
(stuffed with fennel cheese)

Fennel Pizza

Fennel and Apple Soup

Kohlrabi and Mache Salad

Tonight's Keyword: Fennel.

So, there it was... a giant fennel bulb, taking up a lot of space in the vegetable drawer. Something had to be done and quickly...

First, starting with the salad, the kohlrabi was peeled and slice thinly on the benriner, then mixed briefly with a little pinch of salt. Then it was tossed with the mache and the olive oil and lemon juice vinaigrette.



The filling for the beet ravioli was fennel cheese -- a combination of 1 cup of diced fennel and 3/4 of macadamia and 1/4 cup of pine nuts cheese, blended together with 1 tbs. of olive oil, 1 tsp. of freshly ground fennel seed, sea salt and pepper to taste, and enough water (start with a 1/4 cup) to process everything smoothly.



The (very large) beet for the ravioli was thinly sliced on the mandoline. This yielded about 40 slices, which were tossed with salt and olive oil and allowed to marinate (and soften) for 30 minutes. They were garnished with some fresh horseradish zested on the microplane.



The pizza consisted of the fennel cheese (as above) dehydrated on the previously made buckwheat shells for a hour or so at 105F. Afterward, we added a thin layer of sauce made from 1/2 red bell pepper and 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomato, pureed together with a 1 tsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp. of nama shoyu and pepper. This was topped with shaved fennel which was marinated with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and red pepper flakes.



The soup was the easiest to make: 1 Melrose apple, peeled and cored, 1 cup of cubed fennel, 1/2 cup of cashews, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, 1/4 cup of water, 1 tbs. grated horseradish, 1 tbs. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add everything to the vita-mix and puree for a good 30 seconds. Strain the soup through a fine strainer or chinois which will remove any pulp from the fennel and apple and make for a much smoother soup. Check for seasoning. We garnished with some dill and tiny cubes of leftover beets from the ravioli cut into brunoise.



The (delicious) irony? We only ended up using 3/4ths of the fennel. ;)

Tags: Raw Food Wednesday, raw food, raw, fennel, beets, horseradish, apple, pizza, ravioli, soup, salad, kohlrabi, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666