Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

It's finally cool here and I decided to pull out one of my recipes that I enjoy making during the fall; butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce. Now this one is a bit more time consuming than my regular recipes because I am making the pasta by hand. However, it is not any more difficult because there are still so few ingredients. It is so worth the effort...

Here are the ingredients for the filling of your ravioli:



Start by preheating an oven to 400ºF. Next, cut your squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds & pulp. Season both halves with butter, salt & pepper then place on a parchment lined baking sheet.



Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes just until the flesh is soft and tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Scoop the flesh from the skin into a bowl and set aside.



While the squash is baking you can work on your pasta. Here are the ingredients you need for that:



Start by pouring your semolina flour out onto a board or large work surface and make a well in the center.



Next break your eggs into the well and add your olive oil. I add my salt to the outside ring of flour so it doesn't toughen the eggs.



Slightly beat the eggs with a fork so they are easily incorporated into the flour and now slowly blend the flour from the outside edges into the egg mixture.



Once the flour has been mixed in you can start using your hands. This is the fun part...



Work the dough gently at this point until it comes together and forms a ball.



Now you will knead it for about 10 minutes to get the gluten in the flour to develop. You will notice that the dough will become more elastic during this process. Now you can test the texture of the dough. You may add a bit of water if it seems too dry or more flour if it seems to wet. Each and every time you make dough this will be different.



Once you are done kneading it, wrap the dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest.



Now you can go back and finish making your ravioli filling. Chop toasted hazelnuts and add to the squash with butter & a grating of nutmeg. (This step is where you can become creative. You may substitute toasted pecans or pine nuts for the hazelnuts, and use a bit of cinnamon, clove, all spice or whatever you'd like to season the filling.) Mix it all together to form a nice mash.



Now back to the pasta. Once the pasta has rested cut about 1/4 of the dough and re-wrap it so it doesn't dry out. Form the dough into a small rectangle with your hands and run through your pasta machine on the widest setting.



Fold the dough into thirds and run it through again. Repeat this about 4 times.



Once you have done that, dial your pasta machine to the next smallest setting. Keep doing this until you reach the desired thickness for your pasta dough.



Cut the strip in half and set onto a floured surface.



Place a teaspoon or so of filling at even intervals onto one of the pasta strips. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and run it around each of the dollops of filling.



Now take the other strip of dough and place it gently on top of the strip with the filling. Gently press around the edges of the filling making sure to seal the dough together and not to have any air bubbles inside the ravioli.



Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut in between each of the raviolis. Now you are ready to cook them in well salted, boiling water. This will only take a few minutes because you are cooking fresh pasta.



While those are cooking you may slowly heat up your butter in a saucepan. You are looking to brown it, not burn it, so be careful. You can add some dried sage at this point too.



Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well, then add to the pan of browned butter. Gently toss the ravioli and serve. I like to garnish it with whatever chopped nut I used in the filling.



Here's a close up of a bite where you can see the beautiful butternut squash filling.



This is one of my favorite things to make for a special occasion. Even though its quite time consuming it is well worth the effort. This dish is quite rich so just a few raviolis are plenty for anyone. Enjoy!

As you can see, this recipe is full of photos and directions, thus I have not made a recipe card for this item. If you wish to have specific measurements for any of the ingredients, please contact me: thepantrychallenge[at]gmail[dot]com and I'd be happy to give them to you.

cheers!
xo diane