She's alive! Wow, admittedly that was a longer break then I intended. In all honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to make it back, but I missed you guys too much! And thank you for all of your sweet comments and emails. Each of them really made my day. I'm going to do my best to get caught up with all of you too, I have no doubt that I have missed out on a lot.
I recently joined a food group with some of the girls out here. Each month a special ingredient is picked, and we all try to contribute to a big meal with that ingredient. The theme for October was pumpkin, and while I usually think of baked goods when it comes to pumpkin, there was a surprising amount of savory dishes there. Who knew pumpkin could be so versatile!
Since I've been excited to try different kinds of ravioli, I thought it would be fun to make a pumpkin ravioli with a pungent blue cheese sauce. It turned out delicious with wonderfully contrasting flavors, but I'll be honest, they were a pill to make! Since the pumpkin is the thinnest filling I've ever used, it made the ravioli tough to seal, so a lot of them ruptured during boiling. Luckily I finally got the hang of it and ended up with a good batch. It was well worth the work, they turned out delicious.
If you'd like to check out the blog to our food group, click here. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
For Pasta:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup white flour
2 eggs
1 tsp oil
1 tsp water
Combine flours and make a well. Beat eggs, oil and water, pour into center of well. Mix and knead until a stiff dough. Add more water if needed. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes (I do it over night to save time).
For filling:
1 1/2 pound pumpkin
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 F. To make the filling; quarter the pumpkin, removing the strings and seeds and place, flesh side down, on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes, or until tender. Peel and puree flesh. Add egg yolk, cheese, sage, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
To make ravioli, divide dough into eight pieces. Roll two pieces into 1/8 inch strips, or on the setting of 5 on your pasta roller. Lay out one strip of dough on cutting board, place 1 tsp filling on dough about an inch apart (you'll make about four to five raviolis per strip of dough). Brush water around the outside of the filling, lay second strip of dough on top and seal, forcing out any air bubbles. Using a knife, or pasta roller, cut out ravioli. Allow ravioli to dry for 10 minutes before boiling.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous amount of salt. Gently place ravioli in water, cook for 10 minutes. Drain.
For Sauce:
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used fat-free half and half)
4 oz Gorgonzola
1/8 cup chicken broth
1 garlic clove
Over a double boiler, place Gorgonzola, allow to melt partially. Whisk in cream and broth and garlic clove whole. Cook for 3-4 minutes, remove garlic clove. Toss over pasta and serve immediately. I added toasted pine nuts as well.
