Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli

A few months ago we did an Italian-themed dinner with friends. Whenever we go to C&T's house T and I will make something together from scratch and then split up the rest of the meal. She had printed out this recipe for pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans, so we used that to make the filling and the pasta. Since Baby Girl is allergic to nuts (and because we didn't want a butter-based sauce), I made a sage and garlic-infused cream sauce to serve on top instead.

I thought making the dough was going to be very labor-intensive but it was actually incredibly easy. Like, weeknight easy, assuming you have an hour to let the dough rise and a kitchen helper to thread the dough through the pasta roller. It's only 4 ingredients, things most people keep in their pantry and fridge. I was pleasantly surprised.

While the dough was resting I quickly threw together the filling and then we were able to chat until it was time to roll out the dough. Since T didn't have a ravioli mold we just free-formed ours. They came out very rustic, but they still tasted great.

For the final picture, T sprinkled her plate of ravioli with cinnamon and chopped walnuts but the rest of us just ate the ravioli and cream sauce. Delicious.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Garlic Cream Sauce
Pasta and filling from Julia's Album, sauce A Taste of Home Cooking original
Makes 24 ravioli

Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup hot water

Filling:
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups half and half
3-4 sage leaves, minced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

To make the dough: mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and water together. Add the egg and water to the flour and mix until incorporated. Turn out onto a flour-dusted board or clean counter. Knead the dough until firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky - it should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. Add more flour as needed to keep the dough dry. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature.

To make the filling: mix pumpkin puree with brown sugar and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the ravioli: unwrap the dough and divide into four equal parts. Flour your working area. Using a pasta roller, roll out each part of the dough very thinly. Make sure to flour the dough and the roller to avoid sticking. If you have a ravioli mold, flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place one layer of dough on the ravioli mold so that it covers all 12 holes. Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place the second layer of pasta dough on top of the filled ravioli. Using a rolling pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all the air from the ravioli, which is very important. Carefully remove any extra dough hanging off the outside edges of the ravioli mold. Separate the 12 raviolis from one another. Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli. Repeat with the remaining dough to make 24 raviolis.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside. Alternatively, if you’re not cooking them immediately, place them on a baking sheet and put in the freezer. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.

To make sage cream sauce: combine half and half, sage and garlic in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 15 minutes. Pour the sauce through a sieve to remove the sage and garlic, or you can use a blender to puree the sage and garlic into the sauce. Stir in the cheese and serve on top of the ravioli.