I had dinner with Whitney and Kate last Friday night at our locally owned "Cherry Tomato" restaurant (on Cherry Street). When the server offered this special pasta I couldn't resist. It was fabulous and rich! This gave me a great idea as to what I should do with my sweet pumpkins left over from Thanksgiving just 10 days before. So I roasted my pumpkins with olive oil and herbs including lots of sage. Then I put the cooked pumpkin through the food mill to make a creamy a flavorful puree. Ok then I sweetened it a bit with maple sugar and added a little kick with so pepper spice. I added some eggs to the mixture and cooked it on the stove until the extra moisture had evaporated and the mixture resembled a custard.
Then came the ravioli assembly which follows:
I topped this yummy pasta with brown butter (melted butter cooked until it turns brown but does not burn) and chopped fresh sage added when the butter is oh so hot that it sizzles the sage pieces as you drop them in turning them crispy.
Cooking the ravioli and making the sauce takes about 3 minutes. The pasta from beginning to end in time intensive but very good therapy and worth every minute of time.
My daughter-in-law, Amber is a great fan of ravioli, too. Amber I wish you were here to have dinner with me tonight.
Buon Appetito!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
pumpkin ravioli with brown butter and sage sauce
1 teaspoon of pumpkin filling in each section
I used a ravioli plaque that helps you make several pieces at once but you can also free hand it and make individual ravioli by rolling out one piece of pasta, then a teaspoon of filling, egg wash the edges and place another pasta piece on top. Then give the seams a little pinch so that the two pieces glue together.
pasta equipment
I used the pasta attachment on my Kitchenaid but you can also roll out the past by hand with a rolling pin. This is a lot easier.
top piece on and rolled together
Roll out another flat piece of pasta and place on top of the filled lower piece after you brush the seams with an egg wash to act like a glue for the two layer......kind of like quilting, isn't it?
assembled ravioli, ready for the pot
This is what these little gems look like after you remove them from the plaque.
cooking directions:
Cook the fresh filled ravioli in salted boiling water until the ravioli rise to the top. Then scoop them out with a Chinese "birdsnest" scoop
Ready to eat!
I made a brown butter sauce with fresh chopped sage cooked crispy in the brown butter sauce