Pumpkin Ravioli, by Kara Naylor

Today, I had to layer my outerwear, a true sign that fall is completely and officially here. So instead of just wishing I lived in a warmer place, I am going to embrace all things fall. I decided to cook up a delicious homemade pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce. I cannot tell you how worth it is to make your own pasta from scratch, it’s a hundred times better, but if you really don’t want to, you can use those won ton wrappers instead. I did a little research, but couldn’t find the recipe that matched my ingredients on hand (grocery shopped BEFORE looking for a recipe…not too smart!)…so I made my own recipe based on a generalization of those available on the web. Everything was purchased at the Food Dimensions and Mr. Kiwi’s.

Ingredient List:
For the filling:
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta (maybe a chance to make Paige’s Homemade Ricotta?)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
dash of pepper

For the pasta:
2 cups of unbleached flour
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste concentrate (the kind that comes in a tube) if that’s not there (its not always) go for 3 tablespoons of the canned stuff and a pinch more flour
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 Teaspoon of salt

For the sauce:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 of a red pepper, diced small
8 large sage leaves
Juice of 1/2 lemon

To prepare the filling, combine all the ingredients, taste for seasoning, adjust if needed, cover, and refrigerate.

To prepare the pasta, I used my Kitchen Aid mixer and the pasta roller attachment. If you don’t have those, you can do it by hand, it’s just a little more work. Combine all the ingredients, if using a mixer, use the flat beater at speed 2 for 2 minutes, switch to the dough hook and knead at speed 2 for 2 more minutes, remove and hand knead about a minute. Let rest for 20 minutes. If you don’t have the mixer, mix dry ingredients and wet separately then combine, and hand knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, let rest for 20 minutes.

To roll out the dough, I rolled it in the machine and stopped at setting 4. If by hand, roll out until you can almost see your hand through it, but is still pretty sturdy. (It’s a tasty pasta, so don’t worry if it’s on the thick side.)

Cut circles in the rolled out dough about 3 1/2 inches in diameter (I used a red wine glass). Place about a teaspoon of the filling in the center and fold the dough in half carefully. Make it like a taco shape first then pinch all around. Place on a floured plate and crimp the edges with a fork for extra security.

Put a big pot of water on to boil with plenty of salt and a teaspoon or so of olive oil, and while that’s working, you can make the sauce. Melt the butter in a skillet and cook over medium-low heat until its a golden brown color, add the red pepper and the sage. Remove it from the heat and add the lemon juice.

When the water is boiling, add the pasta (I did mine in 2 batches to not overcrowd the pot) and simmer a couple minutes; the ravioli will float when they’re done.

Toss with the sauce, top with some grated Parmesan, and enjoy. It comes out really delicious and is worth the little extra effort. It’s also a very affordable meal to make. This recipe will serve 4 (maybe 3 if you eat more than a normal serving which you will probably want to). It only cost about $12 to make total, and that’s only because of the Parmesan!