It's Punkin' Time!

Last night's supper was A-MAZ-ING! I decided that I was in a pasta kind of mood. I was looking for a nice fall pasta without a heavy tomato sauce. A lightbulb came on over my head. It does that sometimes. Pumpkin pasta! It also helped that our store now makes fresh pastas daily, and the pumpkin one caught my eye. Supper was literally made in 15 minutes! For those of you that aren't lucky enough to have handmade pasta at your fingertips on a daily basis, I have included an easy recipe. In fact, I've always wanted one of those ravioli cutters, so I will be making mine from this recipe the next time! I paired this with a salad of field greens, sliced pears, sliced figs, roasted walnuts and a few dollops of soft Italian cheese. Finished it off with a Fig and Walnut dressing that I got free when I bought my pork chops this week.

Add a lovely Italian red wine and put Dean Martin on the stereo. No one will be able to knock the smile off of your face!


Pumpkin Ravioli with Hazelnut Sage Butter Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cooked pumpkin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
3 Amaretto cookies crumbled up

Hazelnut Sage Sauce

1 stick of butter
Fresh sage leaves
Hazelnuts or Walnuts
A sprinkle of ground nutmeg

Roast nuts in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes. In the meantime melt your stick of butter and add the torn sage leaves and cracked pepper. Sautee for about 30 seconds. Add the roasted nuts and a sprinkle of ground nutmeg.Spoon over the warm ravioli and sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese on top. Finish off with crumbled amaretto cookies.


Directions for the Ravioli

Mix the ricotta cheese, pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, red pepper flakes and the honey. Set filling aside.
Mix the flour, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center of the flour. Beat the cooked pumpkin, 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 bow until the dough makes a ball. If the dough is too dry, mix in up to 2 tablespoons water. Knead lightly on a floured or semolina 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. Keep the rest of the dough covered while working. Drop 2 level teaspoons filling onto half of the rectangle, about 1 1/2 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. Cut between the rows of filling to make ravioli; press the edges together with a fork, or cut with a pastry wheel. A ravioli cutter is also a cool tool to have around! ( Hint, Hint, Paul! ;)) Seal edges well. Repeat with the remaining dough and pumpkin filling. Place ravioli on towel. Let stand, turning once, until dry, about 30 minutes.
Cook ravioli in 4 quarts of boiling salted water with added live oil so they don't stick together. Cook until tender about 7-9 minutes; drain carefully. Set aside and keep warm.

Make your sauce and drizzle over the ravioli. It only takes about 5 minutes!