Pumpkin Ravioli With Sage Butter

Raviolis have always been a favorite dish of mine. I grew up in a family that insisted on making homemade ravioli and serving it as a tradition during the holiday season.  The making of the raviolis usually happened a few weeks after Thanksgiving and when I announced that I would be coming home a week before Christmas my mother asked if I would assist with the "rav" preparation.

A few days after my announcement she called to tell me that they had been made. She could not handle not having the task completed as my mother is always UBER prepared for any holiday (the woman sets the table for Thanksgiving weeks before the dinner and covers it with a cloth so it won't get dusty).

So when my friend Jeffrey and I were shopping at the farmer's market a few weeks ago we decided to buy a whole pumpkin, roast it and harvest the "meat" for delicious pumpkin ravioli. They were amazing and so when Courtney and I were planning our menu for New Year's Eve we decided that pumkin ravioli with sage butter should be one of the dishes we prepare.

You DO NOT have to roast and harvest pumpkin meat for your ravioli.  Simplify the process and buy canned pumpkin.  Keep in mind that making ravioli is a time consuming process and not something you want to do on your own. Make the process fun and invite a few friends over to help.

Here is what you will need:

For the pasta
- 3 cups of flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp of cold water
- 2 tsps of Kosher salt
- A hand crank pasta machine

Combine all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until the dough forms into a ball. Remove from the processor bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.  This will allow the gluten to settle.

For the filling:

- 1 tbsp of butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 sage leaves finely chopped
- 2 cups of pumpkin
- 1 cup of ricotta cheese -- make sure you do your best to squeeze out the water -- use a cheesecloth or think towel to do this
- 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a sautee pan over medium heat and sautee the onions and sage until the onions are translucent.  Place into a mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  You may also decide to add more Parmesan cheese at this point.

Remove your pasta from the refrigerator, remove plastic and cut off a ball of pasta (about a handful). Begin feeding it into the hand cranked pasta machine, starting at 1 and ending at the second to last setting.  You may want to flour the pasta a few times while rolling it out.

Lay the rolled pasta on the table and cut 3.5 x 3.5 squares. Place about 1 tsp of filling in the center, lightly brush the dough around the edges with a little bit of water (I use my fingers to do this) and then fold the dough over.  Using your fingers make sure that there is no air around the filling and press the dough together to seal.  Repeat this process until your filling or pasta is gone.

You can freeze leftover filling or pasta for use later.

For the sauce:

- 1.5 sticks of butter
- 10 sage leaves
- 1/4 cup of cream
- Grated parmesan cheese

Place the butter and the sage into a sautee pan and turn heat to medium.  Once the butter has melted turn off the heat and then heat the cream in a microwave for about 10-15 seconds.  Add this to the butter mixture and sert aside. You may have to warm it up before serving the ravs.  Just be sure that it does not boil.

Cook the ravioli in chicken or vegetable broth for more flavor and drizzle with the sage butter.  Then top with some grated parmesan cheese for a little extra flavor.

Comments

[Jeffrey]

As I found this morning when I made cheese with my mom, there are different gradations of cheese cloth. What you want for this is butter muslin - - a much much finer mesh than the too porous cheese cloth you normally find. Otherwise, an old but very clean and dust/lint free pillowcase actually does a great job too.