Vegan MoFo: TASTE ORANGE ~ Butternut Ravioli Bliss

I’ve been a bad MoFo-er  this week – the last few days have been a complete bust, blog-wise.  So to make up for my lack of dedication, I decided to create something really special for today’s post, and to do so, I enlisted the help of some of my favorite sous-chef’s – one  daughter, two nieces, and my favorite sister.  We don’t have a pasta maker between us, so this was definitely a labor of love (and brute strength – thanks Mikaela!)  In the end, we produced a pretty magnificent offering that was well worth the effort… a little something I’m going to call Butternut Ravioli Bliss.

Butternut Ravioli
with Sage, Squash & Pine Nut Pasta Sauce

Butternut Ravioli Filling
1 cup roasted butternut squash
2 Tbsp Earth Balance butter substitute
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup ground cashews

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.    Slice squash in half horizontally and scrape out all the seeds.   Place one of the halves cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for about an hour, or until very tender.  Scrape flesh away from skin.  You will use the other uncooked half of the squash for the sauce.

Melt Earth Balance over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, salt and ground cashews.  Stir in 1 cup of cooked butternut squash.  (Only use 1 cup!  Reserve the remaining part of this half of the squash for the sauce.)  Stir and mash until the mixture is about the consistency of good mashed potatoes.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Sage Pasta Dough
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
About 3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil

Sift together flours and salt.  Sprinkle in chopped sage.  Add oil and just enough water to make it all hold together.  Tip the dough on to a work surface and knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let dough rest for 30 minutes. (Resting is important!)

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Divide into two portions, and roll the first on into a very thin sheet with a rolling pin or pasta maker.  Put filling onto the sheet by the teaspoonful, leaving enough room between to cut and seal ravioli later – don’t cut this sheet at this time!

Roll the portion of dough into an equally thin sheet, and cut out ravioli pieces with the ravioli cutter or knife.

With your finger, wet the spaces around each dollop of filling, and press and seal the ravioli top onto it the bottom.  Cut out ravioli with knife or ravioli cutter.

Place ravioli on parchment paper to prevent sticking.  At this point, ravioli can be cooked for eating, or frozen for later.  (Right, like that’s going to happen!)

Ravioli Notes:  I have a ravioli cutter/sealer which makes this job much easier; they come in square and round varieties, and are only about $4 at your local specialty kitchen doo-dad store.  (OR you can just click on the picture to the left and buy it at my Amazon store.)  You can also get a ravioli tray, but they are much more expensive, and unless you make ravioli all the time, not necessary.

Also if you can, try to always use freshly grated nutmeg.  A nutmeg grater is uber-inexpensive, and so worth the investment!  While whole nutmegs are available just about anywhere, I buy them very cheaply in bulk at the local Indian grocery – in the nut, they last a very long time, and the contrast between freshly grated nutmeg and the stuff that is sitting in your cupboard is amazing.  Once you go fresh, you’ll never go back.

If you are cooking the ravioli the same night you make them, let them rest while you bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Gently drop ravioli into boiling water and cook about 3-4 minutes.  Remove and carefully drain.  Serve with something awesome… like this:

Butternut, Sage & Pine Nut Pasta Sauce
½ medium butternut squash
½ large sweet onion, sliced thin from end to end
One head garlic
Olive oil
Kosher salt
1/3 cup fresh sage leaves
¼ cup Chardonnay (or any slightly sweet white wine, or white grape juice)
2/3 cup light coconut milk
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Heat the oven to 375°.  Peel the remaining half of the squash and cut into ¾ inch cubes.  Toss with sliced onion and chopped sage.  Slice 2 cloves of garlic very thin and toss in, drizzle on a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.   Cut about 1/2″ off of the top off the rest of the head of garlic to expose the tops of the remaining cloves and put cut side up in a corner of a roasting pan or large baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.   Spread the cut-up squash mixture in a thin layer on the same roasting pan and roast everything for about 40 minutes or until the squash is tender.

(Need a little more advice on peeling and cubing that darn hard-as-a-rock butternut squash?  Make Your Own Fun has a few tips that will help make the process just a little easier!)

In a blender or some such device, pour in coconut milk and add cooked butternut squash leftover from the half the was used to make the filling – you only used a cup of it for the filling, right?  Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the blender and blend until smooth.

Roasted Garlic Notes:  Just hold the whole head at the bottom and squeeze, and the roasted garlic will pop out like toothpaste.  You can add a little at a time if you are afraid of that much garlic, but roasting dramatically subdues the garlicky bite, and enhances the sweet qualities.  If you have never cooked with roasted garlic, you are in for a treat.  Also, if the garlic doesn’t squeeze out easily, it needs to roast longer.

Heat a heavy skillet on medium and briefly sauté roasted veggies in a little olive oil.  Add wine or juice and reduce, and then stir in the blended squash mixture.  Heat through.

Toast the pine nuts in a small dry pan over medium heat, shaking every couple of minutes until they are browned to your taste.  Remove from heat and add most of them to the pasta sauce.  (Use the reserve for garnish.)

Plate ravioli and dress with sauce, sprinkle with pine nuts and a little chopped sage, and VIOLA!
~ You’ll be a freaking vegan genius, just like us!!!