Kabocha Squash Ravioli With Thyme Lemon Butter Food

KABOCHA SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH THYME-LEMON BUTTER

Steps:

• Start by making the filling. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush quartered squash all over with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch sea salt. Lay squash pieces side down in oven, cover tightly with foil and cook until fork tender, 40 - 50 minutes. Use caution when opening foil - the steam plume can be hot.
• When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop flesh from skin and mash with a fork until smooth. Measure 1 2/3 cups mashed squash. Reserve the rest for another use. Use a fork to mix Parmesan into mashed squash. Taste and add sea salt and pepper as needed. Fold in eggs. Set aside while you prepare dough.
• To make ravioli dough, on a large lightly floured board or counter, form a flour mound with 3 cups flour and make a deep well in the center. Crack eggs into a bowl, add milk, and tip into flour well. Gently, whisk eggs with a fork. As you go, slowly incorporate more and more flour. Once eggs and flour are fully incorporated, use your hands to fold flour into mixture. Dough should not be sticky at all - continue folding in flour, adding up to 1/2 cup more as needed. Once dough is no longer sticky, clean the work surface with a pastry scraper and knead dough 8 minutes, until it is very smooth to the touch.
• Divide into 8 equal pieces. Wrap 6 tightly with plastic and keep at room temperature. Cover 1 of the remaining 2 pieces with a tea towel. Set pasta roller to widest setting. Stretch dough into a 5 x 3-inch rectangle. With widest side parallel to the rollers send the dough through several times. Tighten rollers one notch at a time and repeat. When dough reaches 1/16-inch thick and is roughly a 5 x 13-inch rectangle, lay out on a lightly floured surface and roll the second piece of dough.
• If making ravioli by hand, lay dough rectangle out, dot with about 1 tablespoon filling at 1-inch intervals on 1 side only. Brush edges with water. Fold dough over, press around filling, and then cut with a fluted ravioli cutter or sharp knife.
• If using a ravioli maker, lay sheet of dough across metal ravioli mold. Use the plastic mold to press divots for ravioli filling. Add filling. Top with second sheet of dough. Roll over layers with a rolling pin several time until ravioli are sealed. Turn over, and gently release ravioli from mold. Use a ravioli cutter or sharp knife to separate individual ravioli.
• Repeat for remaining dough and filling.
• Before cooking ravioli, make lemon-thyme butter. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add thyme sprigs and sea salt. Simmer very gently for 10 minutes, stirring often to dissolve salt. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest. Before serving, remove thyme sprigs and stir in 1 tablespoon thyme leaves.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add a generous splash of olive oil. Cook ravioli 4 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon.
• Top with a drizzle of lemon-thyme butter and garnish with remaining tablespoon thyme leaves and minced parsley. Serve right away.

KABOCHA RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the fresh pasta dough: Pour the flour onto a clean work surface and create a well in the center. Add the eggs, oil and salt. Whisk the eggs with a fork until combined, starting to add a little bit of flour to the liquid at a time. Keep whisking until the liquid has combined with enough flour that you can incorporate the rest of the flour with your hands. Continue adding, folding and kneading the dough until everything has been combined, 5 to 8 more minutes. Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Place the dough ball in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to rest.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the filling: Sprinkle the squash with salt, pepper and olive oil in a 14-inch cast-iron pan. Roast until cooked through and roasted, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Put into a food processor with the ricotta, nutmeg, 1 egg and half the Parmesan. Place this mixture into a piping bag. Beat the remaining egg in a bowl for egg wash.
• Roll out the pasta dough according to the manufacturer's directions for ravioli sheets.
• With the piping bag, put heaping tablespoon-size dots of the filling at least 3 inches apart and 1 inch above the edge of the pasta sheet. Brush the edges with the egg wash and fold over the dough carefully, pressing out the air from the filling, allowing it to seal. Using a fluted cutter, cut between each of the ravioli to separate. Put the ravioli in the refrigerator to let them set while you wait for your water to come to a boil.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt heavily. Add the ravioli in batches, and cook for 3 minutes, allowing the filling and pasta to cook through. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
• Put the butter in a large, high-sided saute pan and cook over medium-low heat until it reaches a noisette stage, when the butter is bubbling and starting to get a little bit brown. Throw in your crushed walnuts and sage and stir to combine. When the ravioli are cooked, scoop them out of the water and place them in the pan with the butter sauce, tossing to coat.
• Plate the ravioli and garnish with the remaining Parmesan.

ROASTED KABOCHA SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squashes in half horizontally. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Dice the preserved lemon rind.
• Place the squash halves, cut side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil, salt, pepper, diced preserved lemon rind, and a squeeze of lemon. Roast uncovered in the oven, 1 hour.
• Remove the squash from the oven. Cut into large wedges, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Serve immediately, or use in Pasta with Roasted Kabocha Squash and Pecorino Romano (see recipe).

SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH HERBED BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the filling. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the squash on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast it until tender when peirced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Allow the squash to cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer it to a medium-size bowl. Blend the squash with the milk, cheese, and nutmeg until it has a smooth, mashed potato-like consistancy. Note: the squash can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container.
• Make the pasta. On a clean work surface. mound the flour and make a well in the center. In a small bowl use a fork to lightly beat together the salt and the eggs. Carefully pour the egg mixture into the well. Using a fork, gently incorporate the flour into the egg mixture, a small amount at a time. With your hands and a spatula or dough scraper, work the dough until it pulls together into a smooth, pliable ball.
• Halve the dough, then form each peice into a 1/2inch thick disk. Cover the disks with plastc wrap and set them aside to rest at room tempature for 30 minutes.
• lightly flour your work surface and half each dough disk. Roll out one of your dough portions as thinly as you can (to about the thickness of a dime), then use a 2 1/2 inch- diameter drinking glass, biscuit cutter, or cookie cutter to cut rounds from the dough. arrange them in pairs. Each half disk should yield 7 pairs of dough rounds.
• Further thin the dough rounds by pinching them between your thumb and forefinger. each round should increase in diameter by about 1/4 inch.
• Use a pair of dough rounds to make each ravioli. With a pastry brush or your fingertips dipped in water, paint a half inch perimeter around one of the dough rounds. Spoon a 1/2 tablespoon of squash filling into the center, then press the other round ontop of it along the moistened edges. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges.
• Bring two large pots of water to boil (using two pots allows all the pasta to cook at once). Meanwhile , make the sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the sage and continue to cook the sauce until it's light brown and has a nutty aroma, about 4 minuts. Remove the sauce from the heat.
• Line a large plate with paper towels. Add half the ravioli to each pot of boiling water. The pasta will float to the top after 2 or 3 minutes, but continue cooking it until tender, about 15 more minutes ( take one out and test its tenderness before draining an entire batch). When the ravioli are done, use a slotted spoon or spatula to scoop them out and transfer them to paper towels to drain.
• To serve, place the ravioli on individual plates and drizzle them with a spoonful of the Herbed Butter Sauce. Sprinkle on more parmesan, if you like.