Butternut Ravioli With Sage Butter And Italian Sausage Food

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F Brush the olive oil over the cut sides of the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place, cut-side down, in a glass baking dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until soft. Let cool. Scoop the squash out of the skin and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat and saute the leek until browned, about 7 minutes. Add the squash, cheese, and parsley and stir until just heated through.Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Place 1 tablespoon filling on a wonton wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrapper with water, fold, and seal shut around the filling. Repeat until all the filling is used.
• In a large pot of salted slowly boiling water, cook the ravioli until they float to the top, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to serving bowls.
• While the ravioli are cooking, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Brown the sage leaves in the butter for 3 to 4 minutes. Pour over the ravioli and serve at once.

BASIC RAVIOLI WITH A BUTTER-SAGE SAUCE

Steps:

• For the filling: Add the ricotta, Parmigiano and eggs and sprinkle with salt in a bowl. Adjust seasoning if needed. Put the filling in a pastry bag and reserve.
• For the pasta: Set the pasta roller on the widest setting (#1). Start with half the pasta dough; keep the other half covered until ready to use. Using your hands, flatten the dough as much as you can to facilitate it going through the pasta roller. Run the dough through the roller, twice dusting it in between rolls if it feels sticky. Fold the dough into thirds and turn it 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and run it through the pasta machine 2 to 3 times. Move the roller to the next setting (#2) and run the pasta through. Dust lightly with flour if the dough feels sticky. Continue to run the dough through the machine reducing the opening (or moving the setting to the next larger number) in between every roll. Stop when you get to the correct thinness, this will usually be around number 5 or 6 on the dial, but every machine is different, you will have to be the judge of your own pasta thickness.
• To assemble the ravioli: Lay out the dough on a flat surface. Brush the lower half of the dough (the part that is closest to you) lightly with water. This is the glue that will hold the ravioli together. Use the glue sparingly, if you use too much the pasta will slide and not stick. Pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta that has been brushed with water, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Fold the top half of the pasta down over the filling to meet the bottom edge. Using your index fingers, poke around each filling ball to seal the ravioli shut, AND to make sure that there are no air bubbles. Using a fluted round cutter or a fluted pastry wheel or even a drinking glass, cut out each ravioli. Transfer to a sheet tray dusted with semolina or polenta and reserve until ready to use.
• To cook the ravioli and make the sauce: Add the butter to a large saute pan and bring to a medium heat. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and season with salt. Shake the pan to incorporate the butter and stock, and simmer until the stock has reduced a bit and the sauce looks velvety and is the consistency of heavy cream. If the sauce thickens too much, adjust the consistency with chicken stock. Add the sage and season with salt.
• Add the ravioli to the pot of boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully remove the ravioli from the cooking water and put them immediately into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, shaking frequently to be sure that the ravioli don'(TM)t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the ravioli to a serving platter. Mangia Bene!
• Put the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and water.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, salt and water. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture; be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, don't worry about the lumps. When enough flour has been incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done, the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately do not refrigerate.
• Roll and cut the pasta into desired shape. How smooth and supple!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Lightly coat the squash halves with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Season the inside with salt and pepper and place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until very tender, about 45 minutes. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and reserve. Discard the peel.
• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the remaining vegetable oil and, when hot but not smoking, add the sausage. Cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until the onions wilted and starting to caramelize, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, sage and marjoram, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the cooked squash and chicken stock, stir well to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• With a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor or blender, puree the soup. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean saucepan. Add the cider vinegar and stir to combine. Add the cream and adjust seasoning, to taste.
• In a small saute pan, cook the butter over medium-high heat until it begins to turn brown around the edges. Add the whole sage leaves and cook until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the leaves to paper towels to drain.
• Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the crispy sage leaves.

BUTTERNUT RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed skillet, melt a tablespoon of butter. Saute the garlic over medium-low heat until translucent and very soft. Chop a few of the sage leaves and add them to the skillet. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and saute for another minute or so, until the leaves crisp up a little bit. In a large bowl, scrape the contents of the skillet in with the mashed squash. Add the Parmesan and nutmeg, and combine well. Set aside. Now, I am funny about the wonton wrappers: I don't think they hold up very well unless they're doubled up. So, I use 4 wrappers per ravioli, brushing one side of a wonton wrapper with egg wash and then laying another wrapper on top of it, pressing to seal. I repeat this process with another pair of wrappers. Then, spoon filling on top of one double sheet, then top with the other double sheet and seal the edges with egg wash. It's a little extra trouble to do it this way, but I once had a whole batch fall apart in the boiling water with only single sheets, so I prefer to play it safe. (Of course, homemade pasta would be best). Once the ravioli are assembled, set them aside. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the ravioli and cook until they float, about 3 or 4 minutes. (You may have to do this in batches). Drain and arrange on plates. While the ravioli are cooking, brown the sausage in the skillet (the one you cooked the garlic in) until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the butter and cook over medium until it's just beginning to turn golden. Add the pine nuts and remaining whole sage leaves. Stir and cook until the sage leaves are crispy. Watch carefully so that the butter doesn't burn. Divide the sauce evenly between the plates of ravioli. Top with the sausage and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serves 2 hungry people for dinner, with a couple of extra ravioli left over. -Inspired by Megan's recipe for Sweet Potato Ravioli

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the pasta dough: Mix both flours together in a bowl. Make a fountain in the center and add the eggs, olive oil and some salt. Mix with your hands, adding just enough water for the dough to bind. You want to have a ball of dough that is fairly hard and a little dry, so add very little water. Cover with a towel and let set for an hour or so.
• For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the butternut in half lengthwise and lay the squash on a baking sheet. Take 100g of the butter and divide it among each cavity of the squash. Sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until it starts to brown and the squash are soft to the tip of a knife, about 45 minutes.
• With a large spoon, scrape the squash off the skin into a bowl and set aside.
• Dice the onion about 1/8 inch; chop the garlic and thinly cut the sage.
• In a large saucepan on medium heat, heat up the olive oil. Add the onion and saute until golden brown. Then add the garlic and sage and sweat a little longer. Add the squash, season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat until it has the consistency of a puree. Move to a food processor and pulse briefly to remove the large chunks.
• In a bowl, add the ricotta, season with salt and pepper and add to the squash puree. Fill a piping bag with the filling.
• Roll the dough with your pasta machine. Using a ravioli mold, fill each ravioli with the butternut squash filling.
• Cook the ravioli in a large saucepot with plenty of boiling salted water. Then saute in the remaining butter. Enjoy.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Filling: Melt butter in a pot with red pepper flakes. Add squash, cookies (put them through the food processor to make cookie crumbs) and salt and mix well. Purée mixture and let cool. Add egg yolks, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and bread crumbs and stir to combine.
• Ravioli: Lay wrappers on counter over parchment paper. Spoon 1 tbsp (15 mL) squash purée on to centre of wrapper. Brush edges with egg white and top with a second wrapper, sealing edges well, making sure to squeeze out any air bubbles. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add ravioli and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until ravioli floats to the top. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon and lay separately on a cookie sheet to prevent them from sticking together.
• To make sauce, melt 1/2 cup butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add sage leaves and cook butter for 2 minutes or until butter is a light brown colour. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss pasta and sauce together, plate and garnish with sage leaves. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BUTTER

Steps:

• Mix 300 g plain flower and 1/2 tsp of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Add 3 eggs to the well. With a fork, beat the eggs and gradually draw in the flour. With your hands, mix in as much of the flour as needed to make a rough dough. You may not need to incorporate all the flour. Or if the dough is too sticky, you may need to sprinkle over a little extra flour. As soon as the dough begins to form a ball turn it out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Knead the dough until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky, about 10 minutes. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. (You can make the dough in two batches - mix 300 g of flour with 1/2 tsp of salt and 3 eggs, then repeat with the remaining 300 g of flower, salt and 3 eggs, for easier kneading).
• Sprinkle some sea salt on pumpkin and put it in the oven to cook at 200C for about 40 minutes. Check if it's ready with a fork. It should be fairly soft.
• While the pumpkin is cooking, set the ricotta cheese in a sieve lined with cheese cloth over a bowl for the extra liquid to drain.
• When the squash is cooked, spoon out its flesh into a bowl, add the ricotta, a pinch of nutmeg, some salt and pepper and mix well.
• Roll the pasta dough using a machine or a rolling pin into long sheets and place one sheet in a well-floured ravioli form. Press it into the form, so that little wells for the filling will form.
• Spoon the ricotta and squash mix into the wells, but don't overfill them, because excess filling will spread around the dough when rolling. Brush the dough around the mix with water, and cover with another pasta sheet. Roll with the rolling pin on top to cut into individual ravioli. (Alternatively, simply lay a pasta sheet on a floured working surface, place teaspoons of the squash mis in 2 rows at 5 cm intervals, leaving a 2 cm border around the edges. Brush the dough around the edges with water. Top with another pasta sheet and press the edges together to dal. Cut into squares with a ravioli cutter or a knife).
• To make the sage-butter sauce, melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the sage leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until the sage is crisp and the butter is light golden. Don't let your eyes off the pan at this stage, as butter and sage leaves burn easily.
• Cook half the ravioli in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 5-8 minutes or until al dente. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining pasta. Divide the ravioli among serving bowls and spoon over the sage-butter sauce.

SAGE & BROWNED BUTTER RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Cook ravioli according to package directions. In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Heat 5-7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly. Immediately stir in sage and salt; remove from heat., Drain ravioli, reserving 2 tablespoons pasta water. Add ravioli, pasta water and lemon juice to butter mixture; gently toss to coat. Serve with cheese.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BROWN BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Directions:.
• In a sauté pan, over medium heat cook 5 slices of pancetta until crispy. Remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, melt ½ tablespoon of butter. Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute. Add the mashed butternut squash and cook until the mixture is slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Stir in ¼ cup chicken broth and continue to cook about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons cheese and nutmeg, to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely (before putting the filling into the ravioli).
• Make pasta, roll and cut into 3-inch rectangles. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each pasta/wonton rectangle. Fold in half and seal completely.
• Start boiling a pot of salted water.
• In a sauté pan, melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter. Add the sage to the butter and continue to cook until the butter starts to brown. Add ¼ cup of chicken broth and cook another 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Add the pasta to the pot of boiling salted water. Cook until al dente. This will take about 5 minutes or until the pasta floats. Tip: Even if they are floating, taste test the pasta portion of the ravioli before you drain the pot.
• Crumble the pancetta.
• Remove the pasta from the water and drain well.
• Single Servings: Place some of the pasta in the center of each serving plate. Spoon the butter sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle each plate with remaining cheese and parsley.
• Family Style: Put half of the raviolis in a big serving platter, pour half of the butter sauce (6 pieces of sage) and half of the pancetta over the ravioli; than repeat with remaining half of ingredients. Sprinkle remaining cheese and garnish with parsley.
• Give each person an amaretti cookie to crumble on their pasta (and an extra to snack on).
• Note:
• I'm still working on 'perfecting' this recipe.
• You can roast the squash or microwave it. If you microwave it use the 'fresh vegetable' setting. It takes me about 10 min, but every microwave is different. You can peel the squash or cook it in it's skin, it's doesn't make a difference. You may want to put it in for a couple minutes before you slice it in half.
• To speed up cooling the mixture spread it out on a plate and put it in the refrigerator.
• If using a Kitchen Aid pasta roller, roll out to Level 4. The 5th setting is a little thin.
• While you're stuffing/folding the ravioli start the water boiling and the butter sauce. Every so often swirl around the butter to prevent it from burning.
• Add some oil to the boiling water to prevent the ravioli from sticking.
• The wontons will boil quicker than the pasta.
• If you cook the ravioli a day or two later: Make sure you dust them with flour right after you finish your folding. The next day, don't let the ravioli sit on the counter while boiling the water, they'll get mushy; keep them in the fridge until the last moment.
• If you have left over pasta from cutting your ravioli and extra squash filling....boil the pasta, drain it and mix in the squash. It makes a great snack/lunch.

RAVIOLI W/BROWNED BUTTER, SAGE OR BASIL AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Toast pine nuts in a dry fry pan over low/medium heat on the stove top until golden brown. Careful not to burn! Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt to the boiling water. Meanwhile, while waiting for the water to boil --.
• In a large frying pan melt the butter over medium/high heat until pale golden brown flecks appear. About 4 minutes.
• Add the ravioli to the boiling water until they are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes, drain.
• NOTE: Once ravioli rises to the top of the boiling water, give it another minute or two and they are done. Careful not boil too vigorously or they will fall apart.
• Add the cooked ravioli to the butter mixture, toss in pine nuts, sprinkle in basil or sage leaves and top with some grated parm-reggiano. Place on plates or in a covered casserole dish for serving.
• Serve with freshly grated cheese at the table.