Saturday, January 16, 2010

Caramelized Onion and Squash Ravioli with Toasted Walnut, Maple and Brown Butter Sauce

This ravioli was a "my husband is away on business and would never eat squash ravioli if I served it to him so I better make it while he is gone recipe" . . . no no I shouldn't say that . . . he would eat it . . . just not happily! The poor guy once sat down and ate a pumpkin burger from a recipe that I found during a serious healthy kick week . . . my family has never let me forget it. I seriously thought that pumpkin burgers would be so great especially since the recipe had mashed white beans, oatmeal, spices etc . . . I added turkey bacon to ease him into it a bit better. On his first bite everything oozed out the sides like babyfood . . . but being the amazing man that he is . . he still ate it . . . since then I haven't tried to serve him anything that I will get serious heat over from the fam or that I know will make him think "why is my wife doing this to me?. (Love you Toph!) I did make homemade Three Musketeers today (will post this week) for my YW class . . . and my hubby was my taste tester . . so I think he has definitely forgiven me for the pumpkin burgers by now . . I really liked these ravioli . . . in fact I froze most of them and they are sitting contently in my freezer waiting to make another appearance. They have a nutty-sweetness to them and went really well with the maple, brown butter toasted walnut sauce. Just wanted to try something new and have seen a milion squash ravioli recipes and wanted to shake things up a bit.
Caramelized Onion and Squash Ravioli with Toasted Walnut, Maple and Brown Butter Sauce

1 cup Squash, butternut, acorn, etc. roasted and mashed
1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 medium Sweet Onion, diced
1 Large Egg yolk
1 tsp Salt
1/2-1 tsp Freshly cracked Black Pepper
Wonton wrappers, or fresh pasta sheets

Sauce:
4 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 tsp Real Maple Syrup

1. Caramelize the onion in a frying pan over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, or until of a jam consistency and a caramel color. (Add a little water to onions when needed to prevent drying out and overbrowning.) Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2.Mix the squash, ricotta and parmesan cheese together with the salt, pepper, and egg yolk. Mix in cooled onions.
3. Lay out pasta sheets or wonton wrappers and spoon a tablespoon of filling into the center of the pasta. Wet the rim of the pasta sheets with water or brush with egg wash. Top squash topped pasta with another pasta sheet or wonton wrapper and seal the edges making sure to not trp airbubbles inside the ravioli.
4. Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil, add a tablespoon or two of salt to the water and then cook the pasta in the water at a gentle boil until they float and are cooked. Remove with a slotter spoon.
5. Toast 1/2 cup of walnuts in a frying pan over medium heat. When you can smell the walnuts add 4 tablespoons of butter to the pan and cook until sauce begins to brown. Add maple syrup, stir together and remove from heat. Spoon sauce over ravioli and seve. Enjoy!

3 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

WOW!! This looks like one very special meal. So much delicious flavor going on here!!

teresa said...

this looks like it would knock my socks off! i am in love with all of those flavors!

Brett and Amy said...

Your blog is delicious. I'm pretty creative generally, though in the kitchen, I am very by the book. I do not stray far from a recipe unless it's an accident. I'm living in Spain right now and had to buy apple and carmelized onion ravioli, I was hungry and the picture looked so good. But how do I eat it? What kind of sauce goes with that? Please help