Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Pesto

Recipe creation can be a funny thing.

Sometimes I’ll come up with a recipe, jot down my ingredient ideas, easily throw it together, and it’ll turn out awesome. Other times a recipe will sound delicious in theory, but not turn out as great as I’d hoped for. When that happens, I either completely throw out the idea and call it a kitchen experiment defeat, or I keep thinking about how I can change the recipe to make it better. This week has been a case of the latter.

When I bought a butternut squash recently and was trying to think of what to make with it, my hubby was the one who suggested ravioli. I took his good idea and ran with it, coming up with a meal idea of butternut squash, sage & parmesan ravioli with a buttery white wine hazelnut sauce.

Though it wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t crazy about the dish. The sauce was kind of overpowering, and I realized that I definitely prefer a buttery chardonnay over a buttery sauce.

I didn’t want to give up on this recipe though, and a couple days later, the idea came to me to make the ravioli topped with a sage pesto instead.

This time I tried cooking the ravioli in white cooking wine instead of safflower oil as I usually do with homemade ravioli. The difference is that the ravioli came out softer and more classic ravioli-like, but I had to watch them closely to make sure they didn’t burn or stick together. When sautéed in oil, they’re more like toasted ravioli. Personally I like them both ways.

You can also boil the prepped ravioli in a pot of water as you would with packaged ravioli, but personally I don’t trust my wonton folding & sealing abilities all that much and feel that the filling would wind up seeping out into the water. Maybe one day I’ll test that theory out.

As I ate the dish I thought Ah ha! This is more like it.  

It turns out that the second time’s a charm with my butternut squash ravioli creation.

One thing to note: I think a small amount of pesto perfectly compliments the ravioli, but if you prefer your ravioli with a lot of sauce, go ahead and double the amount of pesto ingredients included in my recipe.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Pesto

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Servings 4

Calories 305 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 cups cooked butternut squash cubed
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese plus 2 TBSP
• 1/4 cup light shredded mozzarella cheese
• 24 won ton wraps
• 2 TBSP yellow onion roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sage leaves
• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TBSP pine nuts
• 1/2 TSP fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup white cooking wine plus more as needed
• 1/4 TSP pepper
• 1/4 TSP salt

Instructions

 

• Combine butternut squash, 1/4 cup of the parmesan, mozzarella, onion, 1/8 TSP pepper and 1/4 TSP salt in a food processor, and pulse until mostly smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
• Spoon a small spoonful onto the center of a won ton wrap. Fold the won ton in half, then dip fingers into a bowl of warm water, using them to seal the wrap. Pinch the corners, and fold them over if you'd like. Repeat until all of the squash mixture is used and all won tons are filled.
• Warm 2 TBSP of white cooking wine in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add half of the ravioli to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, carefully monitoring the amount of moisture in the pan. You may need to add a bit of cooking wine to the pan when you flip the ravioli over. Once done, transfer ravioli to a large pasta bowl or plate. Repeat this process with the second half of the ravioli.
• To make the pesto, combine the sage leaves, olive oil, pine nuts, lemon juice, remaining 2 TBSP of parmesan, and 1/8 TSP pepper in a food processor. Pulse until well combined, then spoon over cooked ravioli. Serve dish immediately.

Notes

*You can double the pesto recipe if you prefer a saucier ravioli topping.*

Nutrition

Serving: 6gCalories: 305kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 11gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gFiber: 2g

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