I've had a buttercup squash lying around for a couple months now. The Kidlet and I were going to turn it into soup, but with the hot temperatures we're expecting this week, I decided that I really didn't want soup. It probably would've been easier to make some other sort of squash dish, but I really wanted ravioli. I took a look at Hazan's pasta book for recipes, but the only thing he had for squash-stuffed pasta used an obscure variety of Italian squash for which he recommended substituting sweet potato. After poking around online a bit, I found a recipe for squash and ricotta stuffed shells and figured I'd adapt that to my purposes.

Uncooked ravioli ready to go in the pot.

The original recipe called for two cups of butternut squash. I just used the whole buttercup, it was probably a bit more than two cups, but close enough that I wasn't too worried about it. I made some faux ricotta from powdered milk. I used garlic paste in place of the crushed garlic. And I swapped out the spinach for kale. Then, instead of stuffing shells and baking them, I just stuffed my ravioli and boiled it as normal, tossing it with the simple sage-butter sauce after draining.

Squash Ravioli with Sage-Butter Sauce

Adapted from Key Ingredient

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 c. pasta flour
• 3 large eggs
• 3-4 large egg yolks
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

Filling

• 1 buttercup squash
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 c. ricotta
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/4 c. chopped kale
• zest of 1 lemon

Sauce

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 10-12 sage leaves
• juice of 1 lemon
• grated Parmesan, to serve

Directions

Dough

1. Combine pasta flour, eggs, 3 egg yolks, and 1 Tbsp. olive oil and mix well. If dough seems to stiff, knead in another egg yolk and/or another Tbsp. of oil.
2. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then cover and set aside to rest while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Halve and seed the squash.
2. Brush it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast at 190°C (375°F) for ~1 hour.
4. Once the squash has cooled enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skin.
5. Mash the squash and combine it with the ricotta, Parmesan, egg, garlic, kale, and lemon zest.

Assembly

1. Knead the dough until smooth and supple.
2. Divide into two or three portions.
3. Working with one portion at a time, roll it out very thin. Try to apply pressure outward and not down. The dough should be stretched rather than compressed.
4. Cut circles out of the dough, 5-7cm is generally a good size. Keep them covered so they don't dry out.
5. Place a small amount of filling on each circle.
6. Wet the edge with a bit of egg white.
7. Fold in half and press to seal.
8. Place on a flour-dusted plate while you assemble the rest of the ravioli. If you need to pile more ravioli on top, dust the underlying ones lightly with flour to stop them from sticking together.
9. Once all the ravioli have been assembled, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for 1-3 minutes, then drain.
10. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Sauce

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the sage leaves and cook, swirling occasionally, until butter has browned.
3. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Serving

1. Toss cooked ravioli with sauce.
2. Served topped with grated Parmesan.