With the arrival of the fall gourds, we decided to make a pumpkin ravioli. We really enjoyed this recipe. The first time, we didn't have enough ricotta cheese, so we added some creme fraiche as a substitute (seemed to work fine...). We used egg pasta sheets (available from the Eastern Market Grocery), though wonton wrappers are a good substitute. We put the dollops of batter evenly spaced on the pasta sheet (4x6 = 24 ravioli), laid a second sheet on top, and then cut into individual raviolis using a pasta cutter. A little water on the fingertips and squeezing the edges seemed to seal them just fine. This recipe yielded 144 ravioli and used 12 pasta sheets.

We used a marina di chioggia pumpkin the first time (greenish color, oval shape) and a peanut pumpkin the second time (orangish color with white "peanuts" all over the outside.

The original recipe came from http://theunemployedcook.blogspot.com/2006/03/pumpkin-ravioli-with-sage-...

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

for the ravioli:

2 cups pumpkin or squash puree
2 cups ricotta cheese (use fresh if you've got it, otherwise drain the storebought cheese in cheesecloth for an hour)
2 Tbsp butter
A mix of 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar, dash dark rum (or 2 Tbsp dark molasses)
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Few small springs of rosemary, chopped fine
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
egg pasta sheets (wonton wrappers work too)

for the sage brown butter sauce:

8 Tbsp butter
12 diced sage leaves
4 large whole sage leaves, for garnish, optionsal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread squash puree on a baking sheet and place in oven to dry, 10-15 minutes. You want your puree to be at a mashed-potato consistency. Scrape into a large mixing bowl. This can be made ahead of time and even frozen.

Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a small sautee pan over medium heat until it begins to brown. Remove from heat, swirl in basalmic vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and rum. Add to the pumpkin along with the ricotta, Parmesan, rosemary, and nutmeg. Season to taste with the salt and pepper, chill for a couple of hours. At this point the filling can be refrigerated for 1-2 days.

Lay out your pasta sheet. Put small mounds (abut half a Tbsp.) of the chilled pumpkin filling evenly spaced across the pasta sheet. Using a small pastry brush, moisten all of the edges between mounds with a little cold water. Place a second pasta sheet on top. Cut with pasta cutter and pinch each ravioli around edges to seal. Repeat until you run out of pasta sheets or filling. You can freeze these uncooked raviolis, in a single layer, for 4 months. Cook the raviolis in gently boiling water for 2 minutes.

While the raviolis are cooking, melt the remaining butter with the sage and a pinch of salt until it foams and begins to brown. Remove whole sage leaves and drain on a paper towel (they will be a crispy, pretty garnish). Continue to swirl the butter sauce until it turns a rich chestnut brown.

Now, you can either spoon the sauce over your raviolis in their serving bowls, or you can toss the ravioli in the butter before serving. Either way, serve with grated Parmesan cheese, a couple of fried sage leaves and a nice green salad. Enjoy!