We refer to ourselves as a 100% from scratch cooking company. This doesn’t mean we make everything we use (cheese, bread, etc often come from local artisanal sources) but we do not buy packaged or pre-made foods to use as ingredients in our recipes. Ravioli is something that is available to caterers everywhere as fabricated and frozen, some of good quality, most rather poorly made and stored. We believe that the best stuff we can serve our clients is food we make with our own hands from start to finish. So, yes, we make our own ravioli. Here are a few snapshots of something we are fond of this holiday season: Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter & Sage. What a great way to use up the many different kinds of winter squash available at the farmers market this time of year. These are filled with a sugar pumpkin puree but feel free to experiment with kabocha, butternut or even red kuri squash.
To start organic flour is mixed on the table top with pasture eggs in the classic way and mixed with a fork until the pasta dough comes together. It is then kneaded and put aside to rest until rolled into super thin sheets.
While the pasta rests, the filling is made by slow roasting sugar pumpkins with salt, olive oil and a very light handed sprinkling of spices. When finished roasting, the flesh is scooped out of the skin and pureed with parmesan cheese, egg yolk and a touch of freshly grounded nutmeg. Before the filling is encased in pasta we check it one last time for seasoning; adding salt and white pepper as needed. The ravioli is then made by filling the pasta sheets with small scoops of pumpkin mix and gently enclosing so that no air pockets exist and the little packages are sealed tightly.
Once the ravioli are completed the brown butter sauce is made and the sage is fried in olive oil. Making the brown butter should be a slow process (get the butter as brown and as nutty as possible but don’t burn it). We use McClelland Dairy organic butter for a sauce like this. It is always important for us to use the very best ingredients we can find and we are lucky enough to call McClelland Dairy a neighbor in Petaluma. The sage is fried until crispy but still green. When sauce and sage are ready, the ravioli are dropped into the barely boiling, salted water until done. Once removed and drained, the pasta is bathed in the butter sauce and garnished with the herb.
We wouldn’t really be doing our job if we didn’t end with a wine recommendation. A dish as rich and buttery as this with notes of sweetness from the pumpkin and nuttiness from the brown butter calls out for a wine with good structure and excellent acidity. A white wine that brings out the floral notes of the squash and compliments the rustic greenness of the fried sage. The 2014 Chenin Blanc from Leo Steen is our pick.
as far as raviolis go, the only thing more fun than eantig them is making them yourself..i use any kind of filling i want .i made hot chorizo with cheese filling the other day .wow it was good .(it was organic chorizo ..just kidding) the trick as far as weight and health goes, is to eat very small portions, such as 5 regular size raviolis, no more than that ..if you eat pasta and butter, it doesn’t matter if they are organic, you are eantig cholesterol and more carbs than you need