Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

cover photo butternut squash ravioli recipe

5 from 5 votes

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

Butternut squash ravioli with sage butter sauce is a perfectly elegant fall dinner! Learn how to make the ravioli, filling, and sauce from scratch the authentic Italian way. The ravioli will melt in your mouth, and the nutty brown butter sage sauce complements them perfectly.

Prep Time1 5

Cook Time5

Total Time1 10

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: butternut squash ravioli, butternut squash ravioli recipe

Servings: -8 servings

Author: Elena Davis

Ingredients

For the Pasta Dough

14.1 ounces Caputo 00 flour you can also use all purpose flour; weigh on a scale for accuracy
4 large eggs
semolina flour for dusting

For the Butternut Squash Filling (Enough for ~50 Small Ravioli)

1 medium butternut squash about 4 cups, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling the squash
½ cup onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
3 tablespoons Parmigiano cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese
1 pinch nutmeg to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Brown Butter Sauce

4 tablespoons good quality salted butter
5-6 fresh sage leaves
freshly ground black pepper if desired
Parmigiano cheese for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparing the Pasta Dough

Make 1 batch of this homemade pappardelle pasta dough with my recipe; just don't cut it in strips. Let the dough rest in a ball while you make the ravioli filling.

Make the Filling

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
Peel the butternut squash and cut it into 1-inch cubes, discarding seeds. (You can also use pre-cut butternut squash.) Toss with a bit of olive oil, spread on the foil-lined tray, and bake for about 30 minutes until soft and golden. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine the cooked squash, onion, garlic, Parmigiano, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pulse until smooth. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to use for filling the ravioli.

Making the Ravioli

Divide the rested dough into four parts. Roll each piece in the pasta machine to 6-7 setting or desired thickness (not too thin). Only roll dough one section at a time, and cover the rest of the dough with plastic wrap as you fill the pasta sheets with filling, or the dough will dry out.
Place the prepared pasta sheet on top of the ravioli maker in a single layer. (The dough will hang over the edges.) Place the plastic holder with indent over the pasta sheet. Using light pressure press down on the dough. This creates little pockets for the filling.
Fill the ravioli with a small mound of filling, about 1 heaping teaspoon per ravioli. Do not overfill, or they will be hard to seal and spill out the sides.
Place the second sheet of dough directly over the first. Get rid of air pockets by pressing down gently on the dough. With a rolling pin, press down gently and roll on top of the second pasta sheet to cut and seal the edges.
When you're done, turn over the ravioli maker and the individual ravioli will pop out sealed and cut! If they don't come out, gently wiggle them until they come off from the mold.
Place the uncooked ravioli on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and semolina flour. Cover with a clean and light kitchen towel until ready to cook.
To cook the ravioli, boil them in batches in a large pot of salted water for about 3-5 minutes, or until they float to the top. Coat each batch with the brown butter sauce when it's done cooking to prevent sticking.

Making the Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Place all brown butter sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter turns dark brown and golden color. (You can also microwave it for 1 minute at a time until the butter turns slightly brown; be careful not to let it burn!) Add fresh ground pepper to taste, if desired.
Toss the hot ravioli in brown butter sage sauce and top with extra grated Parmigiano cheese. Serve immediately and enjoy. Mangia! (Eat!)

Notes

Use semolina flour to prevent sticking when rolling out the pasta dough.
Make sure the filling is not too wet. If it is, the ravioli won't seal, and the filling will leak out of the fresh pasta.
Make sure the filling doesn't puncture the pasta dough. Avoid putting raw vegetables or large chunks of cooked meats in the filling.
Cook the ravioli in batches in a large pot of boiling salted water. If you put too many in at once, they will stick together and not cook evenly. Stir gently at the beginning of cooking.
Lightly coat cooked ravioli in the sage brown butter sauce while waiting for the rest of the pasta to cook. This will prevent them from sticking together. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to transfer the cooked ravioli to the pan of sauce

Serve with a salad like fall harvest salad, a roasted vegetable like roasted cabbage steaks or honey glazed carrots, and a slice of homemade schiacciata bread.

Nutrition