Check it
OK, the next opportunity I have to cook a nice dinner (probably this weekend), I am making this:
Butternut Squash, Sage, and Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce (adapted from a recipe in Gourmet magazine)
- a 2-pound butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
- 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1.5 cups)
- 2 T. fresh sage, chiffonaded
- 1 T. butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 oz cheese, grated (I’m trying to decide what kind; would Maytag bleu be good here? I’m also tossing around the idea of peccorino; there’s a new gourmet foods store in town that would be a good source)
- 1 recipe fresh pasta dough
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup hazelnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- Preheat oven to 450F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Make filling: Put squash halves, flesh sides down, an baking sheet and roast in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until flesh is very tender. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh into a bowl and discard skin. Mash squash with a fork until smooth.
- While squash is roasting, in a skillet cook onion and sage in butter with salt and pepper to taste over moderate heat, stirring, 5 minutes, or until onion is golden brown. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
- Cool onion mixture slightly and add to squash. Add cheese and stir to combine well.
- In a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a gentle boil for ravioli.
- Roll out pasta into long sheets.
- Put filling in a pastry squirter (or do like I did until I got a pastry squirter as a wedding gift: put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze a solid line down the center of a pasta sheet. Fold over and seal well. Pinch into approximately inch-long units, seal, and cut with a pastry rotary cutter.
- Cook ravioli in 3 batches in gently boiling water 6 minutes, or until they rise to surface and are tender (do not let water boil vigorously once ravioli have been added). Carefully transfer ravioli as cooked with a slotted spoon to a large shallow baking pan and add enough cooking water to reach 1/2 inch up side of pan. Keep ravioli warm, covered.
- Make sauce: In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat until it is nutty-smelling and golden-brown. Add the wine and hazelnuts and let reduce slightly.
- Transfer ravioli with a slotted spoon (letting excess cooking liquid drip off) to 6 plates and top with hazelnut brown-butter sauce.
I think that givanni’s recipe calls for gorganzola (sweet?). Therefore, blue would be along those lines. Co-op carries a very nice spanish version of gorganzola wrapped in leaves that’s good with bread (by itself). Good luck… sounds really nice.
I see your ravioli and raise you a bisque:
SQUASH BISQUE WITH MAPLE AND BOURBON
Kurt Friese
Here’s a simple soup that can be made using any winter squash, though I have most commonly used butternut. A Cinderella pumpkin is mighty good too.
Makes about 8 servings
* 2 1/2 pounds butternut (or other) squash, peeled, seeded and diced
* 2 carrots, diced
* 1 onion, peeled and diced
* 1/2 pound red potatoes, washed
* 5 cloves garlic, peeled 1 stalk celery, sliced
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 cup bourbon
* 1/2 cup real maple syrup
* Water, to cover
* Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
1. Simmer all ingredients except bourbon and maple syrup until very tender.
2. Remove bay leaf. Puree and pass through a fine strainer.
3. Return to heat, bring to simmer, and add the bourbon and maple syrup.
4. Season to taste with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
5. Serve immediately, or cool and store up to 3 days. Freezes well.
That’s funny–I make almost that exact recipe, only I add some sour cream and leeks, and I haven’t used bourbon in it before. But maybe now I will! Thanks for the tip.
[…] We’re having butternut squash ravioli with hazelnut brown butter sauce, which I’ve posted the recipe for before. We’ll have it with a pear salad with bleu cheese, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. These items I’m comfortable with. For dessert, though, I made my very first cheesecake. […]