Butternut Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter Sauce

Well, it’s been quite the hiatus. In the past six months, I’ve gotten married, gone on a fantastic honeymoon, started work as a massage therapist at a great salon in town, spent 5 days in New York City, and celebrated my 24 birthday. I’d love to catch you up on it all, especially some the drool-worthy meals I’ve eaten, but it would simply take too long. So instead, I’m going to share a new recipe I’ve been working on today.

In the month of September, Ken and I attended 3 weddings, with one weekend off to relax. Being vegan, we don’t usually expect to be accommodated at large events like this, but surprisingly at all three we had something to eat. I’ve been craving another taste of one of the meals-a butternut squash ravioli. I’m guessing it was Rising Moon brand, just by the size and shape. My local natural food store usually carries it, but homemade ravioli sounded like a perfect endeavor on this cold Sunday.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash (2-3 lbs)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt (or 1/2 tsp kala namak for an eggy-flavor)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• about 3/4 cup water/aquafaba
• 4 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 1 tsp dried sage or 8 leaves fresh

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and roast cut side down in a greased pan for about 45 minutes or until soft. Remove and allow to cool.
2. Fit food processor with a blade or paddle and sift together semolina and all purpose flour. Add salt and oil, pulse, then add 1/4 cup water. Pulse until it forms small crumbs and add another 1/4 cup water. Pulse again. When large crumbs form, continue adding a little water until mixture comes together in a ball. Remove and knead dough until smooth, about 4-5 minutes. Coat in olive oil and cover in plastic wrap for about 30 minutes.
3. When squash is cool, blend in a food processor with nutritional yeast, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt until smooth.
4. Cut dough in half and roll out on a floured surface until very thin, but not thin enough to see through. Cut out squares or use a glass for circles. Scoop about a teaspoon of squash mixture onto a square, wet edges around the filling, top with another square, and crimp edges with a fork. Repeat with other half of pasta dough.
5. Boil a large pot of salted water and add ravioli a few at a time. When they start to float, they are done. Remove and drain.
6. In a medium saucepan (or the same pot you boiled the ravioli in, cleaned and dry), melt Earth Balance and add sage. Cook until butter starts to brown. Plate several pieces of ravioli and pour butter sauce over top.

Note: This recipe made about 24 raviolis for me, but if you need more, you can simply double the dough recipe, there’s plenty of filling for more.

Tags: butternut squash, dinner, food, homemade ravioli, pasta, ravioli, vegan, vegetarian