Stacked like ivory towers in my garden are old tires painted white. Inside these vertical columns quietly grow red, white and sweet potatoes that have been reaching for the sky all summer long. How did I come across the idea to do this, you might ask? I first read about this technique for growing Tater Tires in a book called The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. I was doubly excited for the chance to recycle something old, like tires,  and to grow something new, like potatoes. I had never tried growing potatoes before so when I read about this technique I immediately went on a mission to find the tires.

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The other night it actually got cold. The temp dipped down into the 40’s before 10pm and put me in a cozy kind of mood. See, here in North Carolina fall teases us. October can offer an 80 degree day while the next is in the 50’s. It’s a wacky area of the country, climate wise that is, so when we actually get some real autumn weather I head for the stove, get a pot out and make soup.

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So, David and I decided to attempt to make homemade pasta once again and I am soooo thankful that we mustered up the courage to do so…It came out great!

We decided on ravioli so I got busy and made two different fillings. One was a Spinach & Tofu-cotta (like ricotta) and the other was a sweet and savory Sweet Potato con Queso Fresco (a wonderful salty Mexican cheese that doesn’t melt too much, which is perfect for ravioli).

Below you will find another photo recipe of our 2 hour expedition into what happens when you combine flour, water and a bit of oil.

Making the dough

Rolling the dough

Rolling the dough….some more

And some more.

Laying out the dough.

Placing balls of the spinach filling on the dough.

Place balls of the sweet potato filling on another sheet of the dough. Make sure that you run a finger that has been dipped in water between all the filling balls and along all the edges. This will act as a sealant.

Fold the dough over the fillings

Seal all the edges by pressing down the dough.

…and in between each filling.

Now start cutting into ravioli. You can use a press like we did or simply a knife for a more rustic look.

The finished product, some for that nights dinner and some for the freezer. To freeze them just lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment and place them in the freezer for at least and hour, then bag them into freezer bags.

Make the sauce…it was a roasted butternut squash.

Boil the ravioli for 3 minutes.

We enjoyed the ravioli with a nice chianti! The meal was loaded with veggies and had such deep layers of flavor all wrapped up in wonderful little packets made simply from flour, water, oil and love.

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