Say What? Cjarsons! A Delicious Vegetarian Ravioli Recipe
Cjarsons being boiled, almost ready to serve!
During a VeroTalk (watch the recording HERE) we visited with winery Vigna Petrussa in their vineyard and home in the North Eastern Italy region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (often shortened to just Friuli). Naturally, as is practically a requirement for any gathering in Italy, we chatted with a glass of wine and a few local dishes to taste. One such dish is the delicious homemade ravioli recipe, Cjarsons (prounounced CHAR-SONS), a hand-made Italian vegetarian recipe local to the Friuli wine region. Shout out to the restaurant Al Cjant dal Rusignu down the street from the Italian winery Vigna Petrussa for making this tasty dish for us during our visit for this winetasting virtual event.
This pasta dish is a lighter take on heavier meat filled raviolis, but without sacrificing any flavor due to the light ricotta. It ranks up there with some of the best Italian pasta recipes for vegetarians. It is an influence from the central eastern european neighbors just a stone’s throw away from Vigna Petrussa. Packed with vegetables and herbs, this ricotta filled homemade ravioli recipe is dressed with a simple butter and sage sauce to not detract from the delicate filling. Since you are making the homemade ravioli filling too, you can take a little extra time to make a large batch and freeze them. Just take care to lay them without touching each other on a parchment paper lined tray in the freezer. Once frozen, place them gently in a container or bag. To cook, simply pop them (still frozen) in boiling and salted water. Let them cook a minute or two extra before draining. Below, you can find all of our instructions and the full recipe for how to make homemade ravioli for this vegetarian dinner recipe.
Although native Friulians (or people from Friuli) usually save this tasty dish for festivals and holidays, we think this is a wonderful dish for any occasion: it tastes wonderfully indulgent, but is still light. When crafting a wine and food pairing, stick with wines from Friuli Venezia Giulia made with indigenous grape varieties.
The vegetarian ravioli, or cjarsons, for which we have a recipe below, traditionally goes with whites wines from Friuli, like Friulano. However the Friuli region also has great red wines to explore as well, also made from native Italian grapes. Vigna Petrussa is a 3 generation women owned winery in Friuli with incredible award winning wines, including some delicious traditional red Italian wine that would also pair with Cjarsons. Whether it be the Amarone inspired Refosco (made with partially air-dried grapes), or a version of Hilde Petrussa’s baby, the peppery Schioppettino. Luckily, these Schioppettino wines come in a whole variety of styles, from the unoaked RiNera, to the Classic Schioppettino di Prepotto, a Schioppettino Riserva, and a completely air-dried dessert wine Perla Nera. Of course, if your palate is more towards international varieties, you can always try winemaker Hilde Petrussa’s blend, Rebusson, made of several red international varieties commonly grown in Friuli such as Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc. All of these wines are not only great for pairing with cjarsons, but would be great wines to pair with pasta in general too. You can find many other authentic Italian pasta recipes in our blog.
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Cjarsons - Vegetarian Ravioli
Procedure:
1. Begin by mixing the ingredients for the pasta: flour, water, salt, and oil. Knead on a floured surface with your hands until well mixed and fairly elastic. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rest while making the filling.
2. To make the filling, chop finely and sauté the onion until soft and clear. Chop the cooked spinach and add to the onions, cooking until all the liquid is evaporated. Finely mash the boiled potatoes without lumps and mix with the spinach and onions. Let cool the whole mixture.
3. Finely mince the herb (parsley, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, oregano), and mix well with the filling. Once the filling mixture has cooled, add the ricotta and eggs and mix well.
4. Using either a rolling pin or pasta machine, on a well-floured surface, roll pieces of the pasta dough out paper thin. Using a round cookie cutter, cut circles roughly 2-3 inches in diameter. Mix the border pasta all back together and repeat the process until all the pasta has been cut. Then, using a small spoon, gently place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle. Using a finger, gently dab a drop of water around half a border, and fold the circle in half to create a semi-circle, pushing all the air out of the filling. Pinch and crimp the edges well, sealing the ravioli. Place separately on a tray and sprinkle generously with flour.
5. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and pop the ravioli in, letting cook for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until the border of the ravioli are al dente. In a skillet, melt the butter and add 2-3 tablespoons of the cooking water. If desired, add the sage leaves to soften and flavor the butter. Then add the cooked ravioli and gently coat. Serve immediately with a healthy dose of Parmesan or Aged Ricotta grated on top.
Cooking Time: 2 hours | Servings: 4
Ingredients:
Pasta:
200g all-purpose flour
50g water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Filling:
500g boiled potatoes
½ onion
150g cooked spinach
Sprig of fresh parsley
Sprig of fresh thyme
Sprig fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon dried oregano
70g Ricotta
2 eggs
To Garnish:
50g melted butter
2-3 fresh sage leaves (optional)
Freshly Grated Parmesan or Smoked Ricotta
Suggested Wine Pairing:
Vigna Petrussa | Friulano White Wine
