Squash Ravioli with Sage and Hazelnut Brown Butter Sauce

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(from Bethany’s recipe box)

Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Active Cooking Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 as a first course
Make Ahead: Serve immediately
Difficulty: Intermediate

This elegant dish has become a popular offering on Italian trattoria menus. It features a multitude of flavors—squashy, sweet, savory, buttery, herbal, and nutty—working together to create complexity, and contrasting textures—silky filling and pasta, crunchy nuts—to add interest.

The butternut squash must first be cooked to drive off excess moisture and render it soft and velvety; we use a microwave to expedite and simplify the squash-cooking process. Grated Parmesan cheese in the filling not only adds flavor, it also acts as a binder that holds the filling together.

The browned butter sauce is simple, but very rich. This dish is best served in small portions either as a first course or a pasta course before the main dish.

This recipe uses fresh pasta from the Fresh Pasta recipe. If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to make the fresh pasta. You will need a food processor and pasta machine in order to prepare the pasta. To be as efficient as possible, make the pasta dough, prepare the squash filling while the dough rests, then roll out the dough while the squash is in the refrigerator. By the time the dough has been rolled out into thin sheets, the filling will be cool enough to use.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/learn-to-cook/2013/02/4-tips-for-making-homemade-ravioli/

http://www.yumsugar.com/Butternut-Squash-Ravioli-Recipe-28700365

Source: America's Test Kitchen Cooking School

Categories: Pasta

Ingredients

  • RAVIOLI
  • 1 Pound butternut squash (about 1/2 medium)
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • table salt
  • whole nutmeg
  • 2 Ounces Parmesan cheese
  • ⅛ Teaspoon ground black pepper
  • all-purpose flour for dusting baking sheets
  • 1 Pound fresh pasta , rolled into sheets
  • SAUCE
  • 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 Cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts (about 1 ounce) *
  • 2 Tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves
  • table salt
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 Ounce Parmesan cheese * *
  • * Sliced or slivered almonds can be substituted for the hazelnuts.
  • * * The Parmesan for the sauce is shaved for garnish, so purchase a chunk with a shape that will allow you to shave off nice strips with a vegetable peeler.

Directions

  1. epare Ingredients for Ravioli – 1. Peel, seed, and cut 1 pound butternut squash into 1-inch chunks. 2. Grate 2 ounces Parmesan cheese. You should have about 1 cup. 3. Grate nutmeg to yield a pinch.

  2. epare Ingredients for Sauce – 4. Cut 8 tablespoons butter into 4 pieces. 5. Coarsely chop hazelnuts to yield 1/4 cup. 6. Mince sage to yield 2 tablespoons. 7. Juice 1 lemon to yield 2 teaspoons. 8. Shave 1 ounce Parmesan cheese with vegetable peeler.

  3. ke Filling – 9. Place squash in large microwave-safe bowl. 10. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high until squash is tender and easily pierced with dinner fork, 10 to 15 minutes. 11. Carefully remove plastic wrap (watch for scalding steam), drain squash, and transfer to food processor. 12. Add 4 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg and process until mixture is smooth, 15 to 20 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 13. Transfer to bowl, stir in grated Parmesan and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and refrigerate filling until no longer warm, 15 to 25 minutes.

  4. t Pasta Sheets – 14. Dust 2 large rimmed baking sheets liberally with flour; set aside. 15. Using pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut one fresh pasta sheet at a time into long rectangle measuring 4 inches across.

  5. ll Ravioli – 16. Place generous 1-teaspoon dollops of filling about 1 inch from bottom edge of dough and spaced about 1 1/4 inches apart. (If edges of dough seem dry, dab with water.) 17. Fold top of pasta over filling and press layers of dough together securely around each filling mound to seal. 18. Use fluted pastry wheel to cut along two sides and bottom of sealed pasta sheet. 19. Run pastry wheel between mounds of filling to cut out ravioli. 20. Transfer ravioli to floured baking sheet, cover with damp kitchen towel, and set aside. 21. Repeat with remaining pasta and filling.

  6. ke Sauce – 22. Heat butter, hazelnuts, sage and 1/4 teaspoon salt in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. 23. Cook, swirling pan constantly, until butter is melted with golden brown color and nutty aroma, about 3 minutes. 24. Off heat, stir in lemon juice; set aside.

  7. ok Ravioli – 25. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large stockpot or Dutch oven. 26. Add 1 tablespoon salt and half of ravioli. 27. Cook, stirring often and lowering heat if necessary to keep water at a gentle boil, until ravioli are tender, about 2 minutes (3 to 4 minutes if frozen). 28. Using slotted spoon, transfer cooked ravioli to warm serving platter. 29. Spoon some of butter sauce over top and cover with foil to keep warm. 30. Return water to a boil, cook remaining ravioli, and transfer to platter. 31. Swirl 2 tablespoons ravioli cooking water into remaining butter sauce, then pour sauce over ravioli. 32. Top with shaved Parmesan and serve immediately.

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