My friend Leah was in town and we decided to take a food adventure.  Neither of us had made ravioli before so it was quite the treat.  I remember stopping at a little pasta store in Rome with Matt to buy delicious pumpkin ravioli.  It's only taken me 4 years to try making it myself!


Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

For Ravioli
1 cup pure pumpkin purée
2 ripe Barlett pears, diced
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 & 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan/Romano cheese
pinch salt
pinch black pepper
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten

For sauce
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Directions

     1.  Sauté onions in butter until golden brown, ~4-5 minutes.  Add pears,
          cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to the skillet and cook for an additional
          3-5 minutes, until pears start to break down but are not mushy. 
          Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.





     2.  Add pear mixture, pumpkin purée, ricotta cheese, Parmesan or Romano
          cheese, and brown sugar to a food processor and blend until smooth.



     


     3.  On a clean surface lay out wonton wrappers and brush all edges with
          egg.  Place mound of filling (~1 tbsp) in the centre of the wrapper. 
          Top with another wrapper and seal edges with a fork.  Repeat with
          remaining wrappers.  Place on parchment paper so that ravioli don't
          touch each other.








     4.  Make sauce by adding butter and oil to a small saucepan over medium
         low heat.  Add walnuts and sauté until fragrant, ~ 3 minutes.  Add sage
         and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, until butter turns a light
         brown colour.

     5.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.   Working in batches (about
          5-6 ravioli at a time), add ravioli and cook until tender, ~2-3 minutes. 
          Strain gently with a large slotted spoon.  Transfer to a bowl and top
          with brown butter sauce.

     6.  Savour it!





TIP: If you have left over filling, make gnocchi!! Add the filling to a food processor with 1 egg and enough flour to form a dough (so that it's not too sticky).  Roll the dough out into a 1-inch thick rope and cut it into bite-sized pieces (~1/2 inch).  Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes and top with your favourite sauce.  These little guys freeze great too!