Squash Ravioli with Parmesan-Sage Cream Recipe

Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and place, cut side down, in a baking pan with 1/2 inch water. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven about 40 minutes or until very tender. (Microwaving takes less than half the time.) Scoop out flesh and puree with nutmeg, salt and pepper. You should have about 1 1/4 cups.

Meanwhile, put butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir a few minutes. Add milk slowly and bring to a bare simmer, whisking constantly. Cook until thickened and you can no longer taste any flour, about 10 minutes. Add sage, cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and put plastic wrap on the surface to prevent skin from forming.

Spoon out pumpkin puree in 2 rows across and 3 rows down on one lasagna sheet using 1 teaspoon per ravioli. Brush another sheet with water. Gently put the second sheet on the first, wet side down. Run a ravioli cutter down the middle between the two rows and then across, sealing each ravioli with a 3/8-inch border of dough all around. Without a ravioli cutter, press down with the side of your hand along the rows between the fillings, removing any air pockets. Seal with your fingers and cut ravioli free with a knife Then crimp with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining pasta and filling. (To prevent sticking put ravioli, as you make them, on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.) Bring a pot with 4 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. While water heats, gently reheat cream sauce. Add ravioli to cooking water, stir and cook, covered, about 3 or 4 minutes. All ravioli should rise to the surface. Drain. Put half the cream sauce into the pasta pot over medium-low heat and add the ravioli. Add remaining sauce and gently stir, coating all the ravioli. Serve at once with more cheese passed at the table.