Honeynut squash looks just like mini butternut squash , but it has a sweeter, deeper orange flesh. When roasted at high heat the intense natural sweetness becomes caramel like, making it a great addition to your roasted vegetables or in this delicious recipe.
Homemade pasta dough, filled with a creamy honeynut squash & ricotta filling, tossed in a brown butter sauce. Get ready to fall in love with this ultimate cooking project.
Ingredients
Filling
- 1.5-pound honeynut squash, halved and seeded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, drained
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1 cup roasted honeynut from above (reserve extra for other recipes)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Dough
- 1 ½ cups cups 00 or all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup durum flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1-2 tablespoons water as needed
- Semolina or all purpose flour for dusting
Sauce
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 30 sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- Freshly shaved Parmesan for serving
Serves: 6
Prep time: 2.5 hours (includes cooling time)
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Method
Preparing and Assembling
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place squash on pan, cut sides up, drizzle with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 or until soft. Allow to cool slightly.
- Scoop out 1 cup of squash and add to bowl of a food processor. Add ricotta, Parmesan, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and purée until smooth.
- Transfer filling to a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate filing for 2 hours to firm up.
- Mound the flour in the center of bowl of a mixer. Dig a well in the center of the mound and add eggs and yolks. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well. The dough will start to come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated.
- Use your fingers to continue to mix the dough. Press any loose bits of flour into the mass of dough. If needed, add a tablespoon of water to absorb all of the flour.
- Knead with dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Cover dough with a kitchen towel cloth and let it rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Once you’re ready to work on the dough, divide it into 8 pieces. Rewrap the rest until ready to use.
- Use the heel of your hand to flatten the dough into an oval approximately the same width as your pasta machine, about five inches. Set the rollers to their widest setting and pass the dough through twice. I have six settings on my pasta machine.
- Roll it once through each of the next three settings (5, 4, and 3), adding flour as needed, until the dough is about ¼-inch thick.
- Once the pasta is about ¼-inch thick, begin rolling it once through the remaining settings. As you roll, lightly sprinkle all-purpose or semolina flour on both sides of the pasta to prevent it from sticking to itself. I roll it out to about 1/16-inch thick for the ravioli.
- Cut pasta into sheets, about 14 inches long and 5 inches wide. Dust the sheets lightly with semolina flour and stack in between parchment paper on a baking sheet and cover with a clean, lightly dampened kitchen towel. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Have a small bowl with a lightly beaten egg nearby for sealing. Lay one sheet of dough on a lightly floured work surface. Beginning 1 inch from a short end, drop a tablespoon of the filling about 2 inches apart in a straight row lengthwise down one half of the dough.
- Lightly brush the egg wash around each filling.
- Take another pasta sheet and lay it lengthwise over the filling.
- Press out any air bubbles, then seal the edges by pressing down on the dough with your fingers.
- Use a ravioli cutter, sharp knife, fluted pastry wheel to cut between the mounds of filling to cut out individual ravioli.
- Place the honeynut squash ricotta ravioli in a single layer on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a towel as you work. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Cooking
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and season generously with salt. Drop in ravioli a few at a time and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft but still al dente. Use a large slotted spoon to remove the cooked ravioli to a plate if you’re not making the sauce concurrently.
- Heat the butter in a medium non-stick pan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter browns, about 5 minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove ravioli from water and place directly in brown butter. Gently toss to coat.
- Serve warm with fried sage leaves, toasted pine nuts, and freshly shaved Parmesan.