PUMPKIN AND CHEESE RAVIOLI WITH A SAGE BUTTER SAUCE
In autumn, ravioli filled with roast pumpkin and soft cheese, with a sage butter sauce and fresh thyme is a great lunch or simple supper dish.
I’ve cooked this dish a couple of times recently, making my own ravioli from scratch. I base my pasta dough on Jamie Oliver’s recipe, as it’s pretty straightforward.
The recipe for the ravioli is below. But if you are short on time or not in the mood for making pasta, you could just as easily buy good pumpkin filled ravioli, or even gnocchi, and serve them with the sage and thyme sauce.
Pasta
3 large free range eggs
300g plain flour
Filling
3 tablespoons of butternut pumpkin roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and then mashed
3 tablespoons of any soft goats cheese or curd
Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
6-8 sage leaves
Sea salt and ground black pepper
A little parmesan cheese for scattering
A handful of fresh thyme leaves
Put the eggs and flour into a food processor and whiz until the flour looks like breadcrumbs, then tip the mixture on to the work surface and bring the dough roughly together.
Bring the pasta dough together into one lump. Knead the dough and work it with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour, until the pasta dough starts to feel smooth and silky instead of rough and floury. Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour before you use it.
Dust the work surface with flour, take a lump of pasta dough (the size of a lemon and press it out flat with your fingertips. Set the pasta machine at its widest setting, and roll the lump of pasta dough through it. Lightly dust the pasta with flour if it sticks.
Click the machine to next smallest setting and roll the pasta dough through again. Fold the pasta in half and click the pasta machine back up to the widest setting and roll the dough through again. Repeat this process 5 or 6 times.
Once you’ve folded it and rolled it several times , it should be smooth and silky.
Now roll the pasta dough working it through all the settings on the machine, from the widest down to the narrowest. Lightly dust both sides of the pasta with a little flour if the pasta sticks.
When you’ve got down to the narrowest setting, fold the pasta in half lengthways, then in half again, then in half again once more until you’ve got a square piece of dough. Turn it 90 degrees and feed it through the machine at the widest setting. As you roll it down through the settings for the last time, you should end up with a rectangular silky sheet of dough with straight sides.
For ravioli, roll the pasta down to the point where you can clearly see your hand through it.
Once you have rolled the pasta, you will need to work quite quickly, as the pasta dries out. Place the rolled pasta on a lighly floured board. Cut the pasta sheets into two if they are long.
Place small spoonfuls of the pumpkin filling on one pasta sheet, at regular intervals, allowing for space between each ravioli and a border for when you come to cut the ravioli. Top each ravioli with a spoonful of the soft cheese.
Moisten the exposed pasta and put the other pasta sheet on top. Press down to divide the sheets into individual ravioli and, making sure you don’t trap any air with the filling, seal the ravioli edges.
Cut pasta into shapes using a pastry cutter or a sharp knife. Dust the ravioli with a little polenta to help them keep their shape if you’re not cooking immediately.
The ravioli freeze really well, so you can put them into freezer bags and freeze to use at a later date.
To cook the ravioli:
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and put the ravioli in. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until al dente. Drain the ravioli and set aside while you make the sauce.
To make the sauce:
Melt the butter in the saucepan until foaming, then add the sage leaves and fry till just crisp. Tip the cooked ravioli back into the saucepan and swirl into the butter and sage sauce. Sprinkle with sea salt and ground black pepper. Scatter parmesan, grated or in slivers, over the ravioli.
Serve the ravioli with plenty of the sauce and sprigs of fresh thyme.