One of the few occasions I make fresh egg pasta, but very much worth the effort. The sweet, earthy, vivid-orange filling is pure comfort. If you wanted to gild the lily further you could add some toasted hazelnuts or walnuts on top. Whilst this is one of the more involved recipes in the book, the ravioli freeze brilliantly, and if you make a large batch you can whip out a few every time you have unexpected guests.
Ingredients
250 g (8¾ oz/generous 2 cups) flour
3 medium egg yolks
2 medium whole eggs
For the filling
1 large pumpkin (I like to use onion squash), peeled and cut into wedges
sea salt
2 dried chillies, crushed, or 1 scant teaspoon chilli flakes
6 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
250 g (9 oz) ricotta
80 g (3 oz) Parmesan, grated
1 x quantity pasta dough (see above)
semolina, for dusting
For the sauce
150 g (5¼ oz) butter
8–10 sage leaves
40 g (1½ oz) Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
Method
To make the pasta dough, mix the ingredients together, either by hand, with a spoon or in a mixer. Knead well (a good 10 minutes here) until you have a smooth, even dough. Wrap in cling film (plastic wrap) and leave to rest for a good 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF/Gas 4).
In a roasting tin, season the pumpkin well with a pinch of salt, chilli and olive oil. Roast in the oven until soft and caramelised, about 40–50 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
Mash the cooked pumpkin in a bowl with a fork and add the lemon zest, ricotta and Parmesan. Taste for seasoning. You may like to add more chilli at this point, too.
Set aside to cool completely, either at room temperature or in the fridge.
Cut the pasta dough in half, then, using a machine, roll the dough (adding flour when necessary) until it’s thin enough to just see your hand through, then lay out one strip on a floured surface. Take walnut-sized pieces of the filling and place in the centre of the pasta at 5 cm (2 in) intervals. Dampen the pasta sheet with a pastry brush dipped in water and fold the top part of the sheet over the bottom, pressing down with your fingers to seal. Cut the ravioli and place on a tray well coated in semolina. Put in the fridge to chill until you want to serve them.
You’ll need to make the sauce at the same time as cooking the pasta. Melt the butter in a shallow pan over a medium heat, add the sage leaves and continue cooking it, letting it bubble away until it just begins to turn brown.
As you melt the butter for the sauce, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the ravioli and cook for 2–3 minutes, until they bob to the surface.
Once the butter for the sauce has begun to brown, add a ladle of the pasta cooking water and turn down the heat, stirring.
Add the Parmesan and stir over a low heat until an emulsion is formed.
Remove the pasta from the water with a slotted spoon and place in the sauce. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top.
A recipe from Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from Sardinia by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant).
Feature Image: Matt Russell
This article originally appeared on House & Garden UK
