Pumpkin Ravioli
Submitted by spooky
Pumpkin ravioli folds ricotta, pumpkin, and nutmeg into a tomato-tinted homemade pasta dough, then serves with warm pumpkin seed sauce. A fall dinner project with built-in wow factor.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
45 minREADY
1 hrsPumpkin ravioli is one of those recipes that looks much harder than it actually is. The tomato paste worked into the pasta dough is the surprise detail. It tints the sheets a subtle peachy-red that plays beautifully against the golden pumpkin and ricotta filling peeking through at the seams.
Filling comes first and it’s three ingredients plus salt: ricotta, canned pumpkin, and a generous pinch of nutmeg. That nutmeg is the whole recipe’s spine. Pumpkin without warm spice tastes like baby food.
Dough is a standard egg pasta with tomato paste and olive oil worked into the wet mix. Knead five minutes until smooth, rest five more, then roll thin enough to see your hand through. Too thick and the ravioli taste doughy. Too thin and they burst in the boil.
The 30-minute air-dry on towels after cutting matters. It lets the sealed edges firm up so they hold tight in the water. Skip it and you’ll be fishing filling out of your pasta pot.
Serve with the pumpkin seed sauce spooned warm over top. Toasted pepitas layered into a brown butter or cream base echo the filling and give the whole plate a nutty finish.
Pro Tips
- Drain the ricotta in a fine-mesh sieve for 30 minutes before mixing. Wet ricotta leaks through the pasta and weakens the seal.
- Dust the rolled sheets lightly with flour as you work. Sticking dough tears at the edges and ruins the ravioli.
- Press out every air pocket around the filling before sealing. Trapped air expands in the water and pops the ravioli open.
- Simmer gently, never hard boil. A rolling boil tosses delicate pasta around and shreds the edges.
Variations
- Swap ricotta for creamy goat cheese for a tangier, more assertive filling.
- Finish with brown butter and fried sage leaves instead of the pumpkin seed sauce for a classic Italian fall version.
- Add a pinch of chili flakes or smoked paprika to the filling for a gentle heat that plays off the sweet pumpkin.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the cheese, pumpkin, ½ teaspoon salt and the nutmeg.
Set aside. Mix the flour, and ½ teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
Make a well in the center of the flour.
Beat the tomato paste, oil and eggs until well blended and pour into the well in the flour.
Stir with a fork gradually bring the flour mixture to the center of the bowl.
Do this until the dough makes a ball.
If the dough is too dry, mix in up to 2 tbls of water.
Knead lightly on a floured cloth-covered surface, adding flour if dough is sticky, until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Cover and let rest for another 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
Roll the dough, one part at a time, into a rectangle about 12 X 10-inches.
Drop the pumpkin mixture by 2 level tsps onto half of the rectangle, about 1½-inches apart in 2 rows of 4 mounds each.
Moisten the edges of the dough and the dough between the rows of pumpkin mixture with water.
Fold the other half of the dough up over the pumpkin mixture, pressing the dough down around the pumpkin.
Trim the edges with a pastry wheel or knife.
Cut between the rows of filling to make ravioli; press the edges together with a fork or cut with a pastry wheel sealing the edges well.
Repeat with the remaining dough and pumpkin filling.
Place ravioli on towel, let stand turning once, until dry, about 30 minutes.
Prepare the Pumpkin Seed Sauce.
Heat until hot; reserve keeping it warm.
Cook ravioli in 4 quarts of boiling salted water (2 teaspoon of salt) until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain carefully.
Serve the ravioli with the warm Pumpkin Seed Sauce spooned over.
Comments
