Yup. It's true. Pumpkins are good for something other than pie. These pumpkin raviolis were actually made with a sweet squash because they're usually more readily available. P.S. Browned butter!!
You cannot see this, but at the moment I am wearing my favourite winter outfit. 14 pounds of moisturizing cream topped with a hat made out of humidifier.
It's a look.
When winter rolls around and then sticks around and then overstays its welcome there's only one way to deal with it. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize then EAT PUMPKIN RAVIOLI.
Don't get the two mixed up, you don't want to eat moisturizer unless you've tried absolutely everything else for your itchy pancreas.
So pumpkin ravioli. It's a bit of a misnomer since people usually make it out of squash. 'Round these parts you can rustle up a squash easier than a pumpkin. These parts are not in the American west by the way I've just randomly become a cowgirl. Which is a side effect of eating moisturizer, so again ... don't do that.
This isn't one of those incredibly fast weeknight recipes. This. Is. Not. That.
But if you prepare a few things in advance, they can be kept in the freezer for when the pumpkin ravioli mood strikes you. You can make fresh pasta dough and freeze it to have on hand for instance. You can also make the filling and freeze that. And if you want to be incredibly Martha about it you can make the ravioli entirely and then freeze those whole.
The first thing you need to do is pick out a good pumpkin or ravioli.
What's the Best Variety for Pumpkin Ravioli?
b e s t t y p e o f p u m p k i n f o r r a v i o l i
pie pumpkin
b e s t t y p e o f s q u a s h f o r r a v i o l i
Delicata
Kabocha
Honeynut
In a nut shell you're going to roast a squash or pumpkin, make some pasta dough, mix a few things together, assemble the ravioli and you're done.
Butter and shallots get added to a pan to sauté while the pasta is resting and the squash/pumpkin is roasting.
Then all the filling ingredients get cooked a bit, thrown in the blender to whiz around a little, then back to the pan where you add some cream and simmer that sucker down until it's thick.
It's at this point that you can either go ahead and make entire raviolis, or freeze the pasta dough and the filling for use in the future. 'Course only crazy people get this far and don't continue on to the actual ravioli making.
TIP
The one trick I use is to brush the entire strip of pasta dough with a beaten egg before adding the filling. It's easier to do this than to add little bits of egg wash to the edges of the pasta after you've put the filling on. Plus your chances of a perfect seal are WAY improved by brushing the entire pasta with egg.
Try to work quickly because you want the egg to be nice and sticky so you get a good seal around the ravioli.
LISTEN UP! You need to press all the air out of the ravioli before sealing it completely. Just start pressing around the filling out towards the edges with your fingers, to push out any air.
TIP
If you want ROUND RAVIOLI like in my first photo use a pierogi cutter or even just a cup to cut the dough round instead of cutting it square with knife.
Dust your counter with flour and sprinkle the assembled ravioli squares with flour too to keep everything from sticking while you continue on your ravioli making journey.
Around 7 of these will make a meal but you can also have fewer of them and serve the ravioli with a side of sausage.
Pumpkin Ravioli with Browned Butter
Ingredients
- 1 pie pumpkin about 2-¼ pounds
- 4 teaspoons shallot chopped
- ⅓ cup butter cubed
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 egg beaten
Sauce
- ¾ cup butter salted
- 24 sage leaves
Pasta Dough
- 4 cups flour
- 6 eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 f.
- Cut pumpkin or squash in half and lay flesh side down on a baking sheet. Roast in oven until tender. Remove from oven when done and scoop out flesh when it's cool enough to touch.
- While the pumpkin/squash is cooking prepare your pasta dough if you're making it from scratch.
- Sauté shallot in butter on low heat until tender.
- Add roasted pumpkin, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and stir until combined. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Transfer everything to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Return to the pan and stir in the cream and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat and simmer the filling, uncovered until it's thickened. This will take around 20 minutes. Get rid of the bay leaf. Chuck it. Just throw it away.
- Cut your prepared pasta dough into 2" wide strips.
- Brush entire strip of pasta dough with beaten egg.
- Drop 1 tsp. of filling onto centre of pasta, every 2".
- Cover with another sheet of pasta and carefully press around each mound of filling pressing the air out to the edges of the dough. Seal tightly by pressing the pasta together with your fingers. If you leave any space un sealed your filling will bleed out when you boil the ravioli.
- Cut strips of ravioli into squares with a knife, pizza wheel or fancy pasta cutter that will give a crimped looking edge.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Boil ravioli for approximately 4 minutes, or until they float.
Sauce
- While the pasta is cooking, make the browned butter sauce by melting ¾ cup of butter in a pan over low heat stirring constantly.
- As soon as the butter starts to melt, add in the sage leaves.
- Continue stirring. The butter will start to foam, then finally separate and brown.
- Remove from heat as soon as the butter smells nutty and looks darkened. Transfer it to a dish immediately so it doesn't cook any further.
- Serve ravioli with a few tablespoons of browned butter on top and around 1 sage leaf per ravioli.
Notes
Nutrition
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS
Where can I buy sugar pumpkins? In the fall grocery stores carry them. They're the small, smooth pumpkins. Garden centres that sell pumpkins for Halloween also sell them.
What if I can't find a sugar pumpkin? Just replace it with a sweet squash. Like any Kabocha type, Delicata, or Buttercup.
Can you freeze pumpkin ravioli? Yep. Absolutely. Like I said, either freeze them whole after assembling or freeze the filling on its own and assemble the ravioli later.
Can you use Pumpkin Puree for pumpkin ravioli? I don't see why not. You'll lose a bit of the roasted flavour and it might take a bit longer to thicken up but it should work fine.
I hate sage. Can I make this pumpkin ravioli without sage? Sure. I mean, you're a weirdo but sure. I don't really love sage either, but once you fry it in butter it tastes completely different. Better.
What can I serve with Pumpkin Ravioli? I honestly like them on their own with a side salad, but you can serve them with a few slices of sausage. The quickest, easiest way to cook sausage is to slice it into 1" thick slices and pan fry it. It cooks in no time and all of the sides get nice and crispy and browned.
I know the recipe looks a bit daunting, but it really isn't hard at all. It ain't that hard. Any of it.
Yippee ki yay.
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Excellent timing (on both our parts)! I was just thinking about (finally) roasting up the sugar pumpkin I've had on my counter all winter and turning it into ravioli and you've saved me the effort of finding a recipe. You're awesome.
In November of 1989, I was traveling through N. Italy using the town of Modena (where the balsamic vinegar comes from) as a base, staying with relatives. The night before I left, it was Thanksgiving, and as we went out for dinner, the only thing remotely thanksgiving-ish was (you guessed it) ravioli con zucca. Just wonderful. When I came home, I had no pasta machine so I used won-ton wrappers. It's the pumpkin and sage that are magic. Lovely combo.
I just gotta say, I am loving the Instastories. Easily the highlight of my Instagram viewing. You always provide a good laugh (I especially love the one where you checked in just to say "hey guys"). And who doesn't need a good laugh? You get how to do this without taking yourself or the medium too seriously. Please keep it up. :)
You know what I like about you, Karen? Your posts are grammatically correct (and you are funny)!
Ohhhhh not always. On both counts. ~ karen!