Pumpkin + Ricotta Ravioli

A pasta recipe?! What's happening?! I've been busy testing cake donuts for Bakealong and have had leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge - so I whipped these up to use up some of the extra puree. I then spent too much of my day trying to upload this recipe to a site other than mine - like a social network-y recipe sharing site, its complicated to explain - and after the third try, realized that maybe this is where it was meant to be. Hope you enjoy!

This recipe makes about 16-20 ravioli, it serves two as a side, or makes a generous single portion (with some leftover for lunch. It takes about 60 minutes to shape the ravioli, and 10-15 to cook.

Egg Pasta Dough (for filled pasta*)

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp olive oil

120 g all purpose or 00 flour (about 1 cup)

Pumpkin + Ricotta Ravioli Filling

100 g whole milk ricotta cheese (about 1/2 cup)

50 g pumpkin puree (just under 1/2 cup)

1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp finely chopped sage

1/2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 pinch lemon zest

Brown Butter and Sage Sauce

4 tbsps unsalted butter

15 leaves fresh sage (roughly chopped if larger)

1/2 whole lemon, deseeded

1 handful of parmesan for finishing

1 drizzle aged balsamic for finishing

*Filled pasta dough has extra fat in it, which allows it to bend and stretch over dough better than a whole egg dough.

Pro Tip: Make pasta dough first, while it rests you can make the filling, prep the ravioli making zone and get the water boiling.

To make pasta dough: In a large bowl or in a mound in the center of a counter measure out the flour. Make a hole in the mound, a little bigger than the size of your palm, and add the eggs, yolk and oil. Using a fork, slowly incorporate the eggs into the flour, tapping the edges of the flour to add more as needed. When the dough becomes too dry to mix, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, at least 5 minutes. If the dough appears dry, mist the dough with a spray bottle or dampen your hands. The dough should get smoother the more you work it. Dough has been kneaded enough when it bounces back when pressed. Find more info about this part here.

After kneading wrap tightly in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes (or up to an hour) at room temperature.

While the dough rests, make the filling. Combine ricotta and pumpkin puree, along with salt, parmesan, balsamic, finely chopped sage leaves, nutmeg, and lemon zest to taste. Both the lemon and nutmeg can easily overpower the other flavors in this filling, so start small and add more if needed. Set aside, or place in a piping bag and chill until needed.

To roll out the dough: Divide dough in half. Set one aside and wrap the remaining back in plastic. Any dough you’re not working with should stay covered so it doesn’t dry out.

Flatten the dough making it about the width of the pasta machine. Making sure its on the widest setting, roll the dough through the machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with the other. Take the dough and trifold it like a letter, so it is about the width of the machine. Turn the dough so one open end faces the machine and roll it through on the widest setting again. This should give you a nice rectangular piece whose width matches that of the machine.

Continue rolling the pasta through the machine without folding, adjusting the rollers to a smaller setting each time, until the dough is about 1/16 of an inch in thickness. Lightly flour the dough if it begins to stick or pull on the machine. Typically this is the 2nd to last setting. You want your dough to be translucent enough to see the grains of your table or the headline of a newspaper through. If the dough becomes too long to handle use a pizza or dough cutter to make it a more manageable length.

To form ravioli: make a cut down the middle of your dough section, cut as if you’re looking at a line dividing sides of a road, so you end up with two long narrow strips of dough. Lightly flour the table, not the pasta, and place the strips of dough on top.

Place filling in lines along one of the sheets, about 1tbps for larger ravioli. Leave enough space between fillings to allow for you to cut out shapes—usually about 1.5in apart. If your dough is floury you may need a little water to help seal them, either apply it with your finger or lightly mist the bottom dough that has the filling on it with a spray bottle.

Place the second sheet of dough evenly over the bottom sheet to cover fillings. Gently press with your fingers around each blob of filling to seal it, making sure to press all the air out.

With a ravioli stamp, cookie cutter, pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut out ravioli. Use a fork or a finger and thumb to further press down around the edges and firmly seal. Repeat the process to shape remaining dough. Put finished ravioli on a floured baking sheet or cloth and lightly cover while finishing the remaining dough. Ravioli should be cooked immediately, or frozen.

To finish: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once it starts to simmer, make brown butter. Melt 3.5 tbsp of butter in a skillet with the sage leaves. Allow the butter to brown and the sage to crisp up, taking care not to burn the butter. Turn off heat, and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the pan. Butter will foam up, spit and sizzle, but should stop browning further.

Salt pasta water, water should be briny like sea water. Cook ravioli in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot or two each other. Metal utensils tend to be too hard and can break them. Use a slotted spoon to remove from water and add to the brown butter in the frying pan.

Turn the burner under the frying pan back on, and add 1/4 of a cup of pasta water to the brown butter/sage ravioli mixture. Stir, or swirl the pan around until the sauce has thickened. Turn off heat and add additional 1/2 tbsp of butter and a pinch of parmesan cheese. Stir until the butter has completely melted. Taste and season with additional salt and lemon juice if desired.

Serve immediately, with a drizzle of aged balsamic and additional parmesan if desired.