Butternut Squash Ravioli

Butternut Squash Ravioli
plain pasta dough
butternut squash
egg yolk or water
additional seasonings, as desired:
butter/oil
herbs
spices
salt/sugar, pepper
maple syrup/honey

First, cook the butternut squash. I like to roast mine by cutting the squash in half, scooping out the seeds, wrapping in foil and baking until tender. The squash could also be steamed or boiled but this will add a little excess moisture which is not ideal. When roasting you could add some oil, butter, seasonings, sugar, honey or maple syrup; or just add all the flavorings after cooking. 
Mash/puree the cooked squash to desired consistency and allow to cool.

When ready to assemble, roll out the pasta dough in long thin sheets. Place rounded teaspoons or tablespoons of squash filling on the dough, spaced evenly apart. Quantity of filling and spacing will depend on size of ravioli. Brush egg yolk or water around the squash filling. Place another sheet of pasta dough on top. Press down around the filling to seal. Cut out the ravioli. Place on a sheet pan dusted with flour.

When ready to cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and simmer (a full rolling boil may cause the pasta to break) until just tender.

Lobster Ravioli 2.0

I made lobster ravioli again; the filling recipe and dough recipes were essentially the same but this time there were several differences in the dish.
#1 I made them at work, not home
#2 The pasta rolling machine broke, so I did most of the rolling by hand which resulted in more work, more time, more muscle, and a slightly thicker dough
#3 I didn't have the little ravioli molds this time, so I hand cut them and pieced them together with round cutters
#4 I paired the ravioli with a different sauce and different sides

Lobster Ravioli

Basically for the lobster ravioli I made I used the same recipe as for the ricotta ravioli but simply added finely chopped lobster to the mix along with a little bit of paprika. I used about fifty percent lobster ad fifty percent ricotta mix and used frozen pre-cooked lobster claw, then adjusted the seasoning. I used the square mold for the lobster ravioli so it would be easy to distinguish from the ricotta ravioli.

I served the lobster ravioli with some butter-poached lobster tail, a tarragon lemon cream sauce, tarragon-infused oil, fresh tarragon, grated Parmesan cheese, and paprika. I found the lobster ravioli held together better and cooked more evenly than the plain ricotta ravioli without any filling escaping!

Ricotta Ravioli

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I made homemade pasta dough and with it a couple batches of ravioli. Following is the recipe for the ricotta filling I used in the triangular-shaped vegetarian ravioli. 

Herbed Lemon Ricotta Filling
1 container (475 grams)
1 Tablespoon chopped tarragon
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
cracked black pepper
salt

Mix all ingredients together. This is just a base recipe - any desired combination of herbs and spices may be used. I used lemon and tarragon as flavors to pair with the lobster ravioli I also made.

Ricotta Ravioli
Roll pasta dough into sheets using the thinnest setting, keeping sheets covered when not in use. If you have a handy ravioli tray, then the process will be easier. If not, you will need cutters of desired shape and size to cut the individual raviolis out by hand.

Drape one sheet over the ravioli tray, and gently press a small spoonful of filling in each cavity. I'm not sure exactly but I think I used about one teaspoon filling for each ravioli. Brush all the edges of dough with egg yolk or water. I just used water for this and used my finger and found no problems with the dough not sticking or the seal breaking. Gently drape another sheet over, then unmold the raviolis as directed. Place on a baking sheet dusted with flour. Repeat until either all the filling or all the pasta has been used up.

Ravioli can be cooked immediately, chilled for awhile before cooking, or alternatively frozen and cooked from frozen as required. Cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes until dough is cooked through,