Beet and Goat Cheese "Ravioli" with Pistachios, Microgreens and Orange Balsamic Drizzle

Beets and goat cheese are wonderfully wine-friendly...both separately and especially together. Sauvignon Blanc provides just the right acidity and fruitiness to play off the earthiness of the beets and the chalky minerality of the goat cheese. (I love Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand with either or both. There's a nice herbal quality to the wine that I like a lot.)

When planning for our recent wine dinner, I combined several recipes I had on file to come up with this amalgam. It's fairly easy to prepare, but the results are both elegant and delicious.

Beet and Goat Cheese "Ravioli" with Pistachios, Microgreens and Orange Balsamic Drizzle
Makes eight servings.

For "ravioli":
8 medium beets (I used a mixture of red and golden.)
3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) fresh goat cheese, softened
1 tablespoon minced chives

For dressing:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 star anise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For garnish:
2 tablespoons shelled pistachios, lightly crushed
8 tablespoons microgreens or mildly flavored sprouts
To assemble the ravioli, cover the beets with water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer the beets over moderate heat until tender, about 1 hour. Drain and let cool. Peel the beets and slice them crosswise 1/4 inch thick. You need 32 slices.

In a small bowl, blend the goat cheese with the minced chives and season with salt and pepper. Arrange 16 beet rounds on a work surface. Dollop a teaspoon of goat cheese in the center of each round and top with remaining 16 rounds. Press lightly. Place two ravioli on each of eight salad plates.

To make the dressing (which you can do ahead of time), combine the orange juice, vinegar, sugar and star anise in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 10 minutes). Stir in the salt and pepper. Let cool. (The dressing can be refrigerated at this point. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Drizzle a tablespoon or so of dressing over each plate. Top with crushed pistachios and a pinch of microgreens. Serve with a nice finishing salt if you have it.

Wine Pairing: As I said at the beginning of the entry, this is a perfect dish for Sauvignon Blanc. I am partial to Spy Valley, Geyser Peak and Ferrari Carano's or Mondavi's Fume Blanc. For the wine dinner, I served it with the Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc. It has all the tang of a good Sauvignon Blanc with what I call smokiness from a little bit of oak aging. Try it. It's one of our new house wines.