Butternut Squash Ravioli Filling

Cut into pieces and put about 1 inch water in the bottom of the baking pan. Bake squash at about 400 degrees F for about 45 minutes, or until it is tender when pierced with a fork. After it is baked, cool the squash for 5 minutes and then scoop out of the shell and mash thoroughly with other filling ingredients.

Bring an enormous pot of (salted) water to boil. When at a full rolling boil, use a spatula to drop no more than 10 ravioli at a time into the water. They should rise immediately to the surface. Give them enough room so that they don't stick to each other or accidentally get punctured and leak the filling. Cook in batches for 3 minutes only and remove to a warm plate. Meanwhile, melt the butter over very low heat until just bubbling, but do not let it brown at all. Mince up fresh sage and add with some salt. Pour the butter sauce over the ravioli when you serve.

With these I made a piquant salad of romaine, avocado, red onion rings and slices of navel orange with sweet and sour vinaigrette, which seemed to go very well with the ravioli.

cook's notes

These get a 3 out of 5. The dish is visually beautiful with an unusual, delicate flavor and the few ingredients required are neither hard to find nor very expensive, except for the fresh Parmesan. However, like all fresh pastas, and filled pastas in particular, it's time consuming and labor intensive to make. This was the main reason this recipe didn't score higher; on taste and other factors, I'd have given it at least a 4/5, and maybe a 5/5 if I were more of a squash fan. I don't think it's worth it to prepare these for everyday meals (unless you're a real squash lover); for a special menu like a vegetarian thanksgiving.

As far as technical info goes... This recipe came without any info as to the preparation of the pasta. I used one batch of my standard pasta recipe and had a bit of filling left over. To avoid the waste, it might do to use a bit less squash (I used about 1 1/3 pounds when I made this.) As an added bonus, there would be proportionately more cheese, and the raviolis would be a bit richer. Also, I'd increase the nutmeg a little, to about a level teaspoon.... As for the sauce, the sage/butter combo is pretty good, and is pretty close to perfect if these are eaten as a side dish. The light quality of the sauce is part of the delicate nature of the dish as a whole. If you're serving these as an entree, I would think about a slightly more serious sauce. We tried pesto and it was great; but it did overpower the ravioli to a certain extent. A very light, sweet tomato sauce might be a good suggestion, or maybe even a light cream sauce....