Acorn Squash and Kale Ravioli

This weekend the temperatures didn’t rise much above 20 degrees so I tucked inside at my friend’s house in the Catskills, wearing long johns to keep snug. Her parents were up for the weekend and brought the family pasta maker so we decided to roll ourselves a little lunch. We made three different fillings and spent hours at the long oak table talking, rolling, stuffing and cutting. Making pasta is really very simple stuff and there is nothing more delicious than the fresh stuff.

Acorn Squash and Kale Ravioli
Filling:
2 cups roasted, pureed acorn squash (about 2 medium squash)
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup kale, sauteed with garlic and chopped finely
2 teaspoons salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
Fresh pasta dough:
2 cups AP flour
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 tablespoons hot water

1. Combine all dough ingredients but water in a food processor and pulse until combined. Gradually add the water through the feed tube until the dough starts to ball, about 20 seconds. Take out of processor and kneed for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Wrap tightly in plastic and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the filling ingredients and mix well.
3. Using a pasta maker, roll the pasta into sheets working from the widest setting to the thinnest, gradually working to the thinnest level. Sprinkle cornmeal or semolina flour on the working surface and put the pasta on top.
4. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling on a sheet, spaced about 1.5 inches from each other and a half inch from the edge.
5. Using your fingers and a bowl of water, dampen the edges of the pasta dough where you will seal the two sheets of pasta to make the ravioli, tracing where the edges will be with water.
6. Cover with a second sheet of pasta, lining up the edges of the two sheets. Starting in the middle, press down to seal the dough around each ravioli, trying to keep air pockets from forming in each ravioli. Stretch the dough as necessary to seal the edges with your fingers.
7. Using a rolling cutter, cut out the edges to form small squares.
8. Boil the ravioli in salted water for about 5 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Freeze any remaining ravioli on a cookie sheet.
9. Serve with brown butter and sage sauce or walnut pesto.