The full name for this dish is Casunziei all’Ampezzana. It is a hearty beet-filled ravioli, originating in the mountains of what is now northern Italy. This region (the Dolomites) were part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I, when it became part of Italy.

Why in the world would I make that, since so much of my focus for food and wine is in Southern Italy, not the North? The answers, my friends, are straightforward: it is (1) unusual, (2) delicious, (3) makes good use of beets I have already cooked, and (4) I found an excellent video explaining how to make it.

I had plenty of time yesterday afternoon to play around with this, so I happily launched into preparing it as a first course for dinner, to be followed by a second course of sautéed shrimp with garlic and vegetables. The only adjustments I made to Frankie’s recipe was to make the pasta with egg, instead of just water, and to use a bit of Sicilian marmalade, since I did not have a fresh orange to use for the zest.

If you notice the details in his recipe, he neglected to show the addition of poppy seeds — a signature part of this cuisine — so I forgot to put it into the sauce, in spite of what he shows in the video. The meal came together nicely, and the wine — Birichino’s 2022 Blanc de Noir of Cinsault — provided an important and flavorful part of the dinner. Next time I will remember the poppy seeds.