Butternut squash ravioli with sage butter

If you are already bored with the squash this is not the best post for you, as today I am going to show another recipe using this lovely vegetable. For last few years this queen of October veg was tempting me to make lovely filling and use it to make the homemade ravioli. Squash filling? No problem. Homemade ravioli? Not exactly that exiting. (I thought)

I was not really keen to make my own ravioli until I have made my own first pasta and fought my culinary demon not long time ago. I have pasta maker. I have the butternut squash. I certainly haven’t got homemade pasta demon anymore. What shall I do? Squash ravioli perhaps?

The outcome was delicious. Even if my kitchen looked like after the Armageddon and my big toe hurts because when rolling the dough somehow (I still do not know how though…) I managed to pull out the handle and drop it straight onto my toe. Anyway, ravioli were worth it…




Serves 4

Dough

220g pasta flour, '00' type
2 whole eggs in room temperature
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

Sieve the flour into a bowl, then turn into a mound onto a clean surface and make a well in the middle. Sprinkle the salt into a well and then crack in the eggs and egg yolk.

You can have a bowl of water on the side, so you can wet your hands to help bring the dough together if it getting too difficult towards the end of kneading.

To begin brake the egg yolks with your fingertips and then begin to move your fingers in a circular motion, gradually incorporating the flour until you have worked in enough to start bringing in together in a ball. The you start to work the ball of dough by pushing it with the heel of your hand, then folding the top back to itself, repeating again and again.

To make the dough you have to spend a good 10 minutes on kneading, the dough should come together and feel quite stiff. However it is no good to overdo the dough. You need to leave it in damp cloth for about 1 hour to rest and it will become softer.

Filling

half medium butternut squash, deseeded and left in skin
tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
2 tbsp bread crumbs
about 30g walnuts
1 egg yolk
pinch of freshly gated nutmeg
half tsp of fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar
salt freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the butternut squash on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast until the flesh is soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down. When cooled down remove the flesh from the skin with spoon.

Place the walnuts, all spices and pumpkin in a food processor and mix until smooth. Next ad bread crumbs, parmesan, egg yolk and adjust the seasoning. Place in a fridge and roll the dough.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, and roll one at time using a rolling pin first so it is not too thick when rolling in the machine, about 1 cm thick is enough. Put the machine of the thickest setting and start rolling. You have to support the rolled dough with you hand so it will not fold or stick. Change to next setting and roll again. Repeat another 2-3 times taking the setting down every time.

Next fold the pasta onto itself, put the machine into first setting and put the pasta through. Repeat 2-3 times, changing the setting to thinner. If you feel the dough is too sticky dust with very little flour.

When you have two sheets of pasta ready place one of them on a floured surface and place a tablespoon of the filling in equal intervals, about 2.5cm from the edges. I used an ordinary freezing bag – I placed some filling in the bag, fold it and cut one of the corners so it looked like an icing bag – it is easier to squeeze the filling onto the pasta rather than placing by spoon. Then brush the pasta with little water around the filling.

Fold over the top half of the dough and, working from the centre of the line outwards, press firmly around each pile of filling with your fingers to push out any trapped air and seal in the filling.

Trim off the edges with sharp knife or pastry cutter or fluted pasta wheel. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Place ravioli in the pan, about 8 at once and let it boil for about 4-5 minutes. Drain with slotted spoon and place on the plates.

Melt some butter in a large frying pan until foaming, add the sage and fry for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and add few drops of lemon juice. Pour the butter over a ravioli, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some parmesan. Serve immediately.