Cooking Cjarsòns: Ravioli with Apples

Cjarsòns is an exemplary dish from Carnia. A ravioli, that is neither sweet nor savoury, prepared with many spices. Here we get you the authentic recipe of Osteria da Alvise di Sutrio.

Credit: Udine Today

Cjarsòns is the symbolic dish of Carnia (in Friuli Venezia Giulia): a potato pasta ravioli bursting with ricotta cheese blended with a very rich variety of ingredients including spices, dried fruit, sultanas, oriental flavours, aromatic herbs... they are made both sweet and savoury and each restaurant even each family has its own recipe.

Apple Ravioli Recipe (serves 4 people):

For the pasta

1 lb flour, 1 lb boiling water

For the filling

• 3 big potatoes,

• a handful of sultana raisins soaked in water,

• half a grated apple,

• a little bit of grated peel,

• a tablespoon of sugar,

• a pinch of salt,

• a pinch of grated cinnamon,

• a tuft of parsley,

• a clump of mint,

• a bunch of lemon balm all chopped up,

• half onion thinly sliced, clarified butter ("ont"), smoked ricotta

Method

For the Filling

• Boil the potatoes and mash them, then put them in a large bowl.

• Sauté the onions in a non- stick pan with a little clarified butter over low heat until they are brown and when they are nicely cooked add the chopped herbs. After a moment of cooking add them to the mashed potatoes.

• At this point add the raisins, lemon peel, sugar, salt, apple, cinnamon. Mix everything together until you get a well-amalgamated mixture called "pestum". Let it rest in the open air for a couple of hours.

For the Pasta

• Add boiling water to the flour and make a quick dough.

• Form cylinders as you would when making gnocchi, cut them into chunks and with the help of a glass widen them to form many circles.

• Now put a teaspoon of stuffing inside each one and close properly by pressing on the edges.

To finish the dish

Cook the cjarsòns in boiling salted water and when they come to the surface collect them with a perforated ladle and place them on a plate, season with grated smoked ricotta cheese and a little melted clarified butter on top.

We can’t wait to make the delicious Cjarsons and we trust the feeling is mutual.

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Source: lacucinaitaliana