Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream

Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream, a purely luxurious pasta experience, from the creamy sweet roasted kabocha squash melded with mascarpone cheese, to a little punch from grated Pecorino and crumbles of lovely pistachio. Taking it over the top with the most tender, delicate pasta ever. Give it a try, it never disappoints!

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Why you would want to make this Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream

When we think of ravioli, especially in our family, we think delicate pillows of pasta filled with the most luxurious filling. This ravioli hits all those notes and here are a few reasons why you would want to make these:

• Tender thin flavorful pasta
• A great balance of filling versus pasta
• Huge flavor
• A great creamy sauce
• Very enjoyable to make
• Freezes well
• Cooks quickly
• A great family meal
• Very economical

One of our personal experiences is that store bought ravioli has that over bearing pasta to filling ratio. This Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream has pasta that is thin and very delicate yet still preserving the al dente texture, giving us a nice balance of squash filling to exterior pasta layer. This is a family meal that eats like fine dining!

Ingredients

We will break down the ingredients in three steps: filling, pasta, sauce, garnishing.

Filling:

• medium kabocha squash or any squash
• garlic clove
• shallot
• salt & pepper
• dried oregano, rosemary
• freshly grated nutmeg
• mascarpone cheese
• grated Pecorino cheese
• crumbled pistachio

Pasta:

• type "00" flour
• free-range chicken eggs
• a little water if needed
• semolina flour

Sauce:

• 2% milk or (half & half cream)
• type "00" flour
• butter
• grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Garnishing:

• finely chopped Italian prosciutto

Gather this equipment from the kitchen

• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Good knife for cutting
• Some spoons
• Glass bowl
• Smaller bowls for ingredients
• Ramekin
• Small glazing brush
• Fine cheese grater
• Hand blender
• Food processor
• Wood board or clean work surface
• Pasta machine or stand mixer with pasta sheet attachment
• Piping bag
• Ravioli cutter
• Spatula
• Large pot for cooking ravioli
• 2 small sauce pots for sauce
• Whisk
• Sauté pan

Now that we have all the ingredients and equipment on hand, time to have some fun. Come let's get into the kitchen and make this beautiful Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream!

Firstly the filling for the Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream

We like to make the filling first as it needs a bit of time for the squash to roast and then mingle with everything. Here are the steps:

• Wash squash and dry off. Cut in half and scoop out all the pulp and seeds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

• Drizzle with olive oil all over, season with salt and pepper, and then place inside a clove of peeled garlic, some shallot quartered, dried oregano and rosemary. Turn over the squash and cook flesh side down in a pre heated 375° F oven for 20 minutes or so or until squash is fork tender. Let cool.

• Scoop all the flesh, garlic, and shallot into a glass bowl. With a hand blender, process until smooth.

• Add in grated nutmeg, mascarpone, grated Pecorino, and crushed pistachio. Blend well until all incorporated. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

Pasta time!

There are many ways to make the dough. You can do it old school by hand and make a mound of flour on a work surface with a well in the middle and place the eggs in, then slowly blend until it comes together enough to knead.

Another way is to use your stand mixer with a hook attachment, adding flour, then one egg at a time until it pulls from the side of the bowl. Then knead by hand until smooth.

Third choice is a charm

Today we have made the dough starting in the food processor:

1. Add flour, then one egg at a time. Pulse until dough starts to pull from the sides of the processor bowl.
2. If it seems too dry, add drops of water to make it more pliable.
3. Take out of processor and place dough onto a lightly floured work surface. We are using our trusted wood pasta board. Knead until dough becomes smooth and when you press your finger in it dimples then slowly comes back.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. This will help the dough relax.

Let's make ravioli

This is the fun part, we just love it. Here is how we make these lovely ravioli:

1. Get filling out of fridge and uncover.
2. Take you dough and cut two slices about ½ inch thick. Cover the remaining dough so it doesn't dry out. Shape the dough slices, into a rectangle with your hands. Sprinkle some semolina flour onto your work surface and dust the dough on both sides. Set you pasta machine to the largest setting. Ours is one. Run the dough through. Then take the dough and fold into a rectangular parcel and run it through again on one.
3. Now you want to run that dough through number two, then three, four and lastly five. Make sure to sprinkle some semolina in between rolling, so pasta does not stick to the rollers on the machine. Do this for the other piece you have cut. Now you will have two pasta sheets.

Filling

• Take the piping bag, scoop filling and place in bag until it is about ¾ full. Twist top to form some pressure at the tip.

• Take your ravioli cutter and make an indentation on your dough lightly so you can see the shape of the ravioli. Pipe filling into the center, not too much or else we cannot close the ravioli. Usually about a teaspoon full or so you can still see a nice border around the ravioli.

Sealing the deal

• Pour some water into a ramekin and with a pastry brush, spread some water all around the dough surrounding the filling. Remember very little, it is only to moisten the dough so the ravioli is sealed well.

• Place other pasta sheet on top and with your fingers press the dough around the filling taking out any air. With the ravioli cutter, center over filling then press down making sure it cuts through the dough. Take the ravioli and release it from the cutter and place it on a baking sheet sprinkled with semolina.

• Continue this, until all the dough is used up. The scrap pieces you can re-roll and shape into pasta sheets also. Whatever can't be used for the ravioli, can be cut up into pieces and placed in an airtight container and placed into the freezer to be used later for soup or pasta e fagioli.

Can the ravioli be frozen at this point?

Absolutely! That is the best thing about ravioli. They can be frozen just as long as they are stored in an airtight container. However, first freeze them on the baking sheet in one layer, then transfer them to your storage container. This will prevent the ravioli from sticking to one another.

When you want to cook them, put them into boiling salted water straight from the freezer. Make sure you use a large pot with substantial water. They take a minute longer to cook, but the end result is delicious just the same.

If you are cooking them right away place them gently into the boiling water. Wait for them to rise to the surface and to see that foam form at the border of the pot. It usually takes 5 minutes to cook these ravioli.

The sauce for Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream

You could do these in a simple tomato sauce with garlic, basil, and chili flakes. Today we are making it smooth and zesty with a creamy Parmigiano sauce. This is how to make it:

1. In a medium sauce pan heat up milk or cream on low heat. In another sauce pan heat up butter, once it melts add flour and form a roux.
2. Once the milk starts to simmer, take off the top skin and slowly pour the milk into the roux mixture.
3. Whisk away until the sauce is smooth. Furthermore, slowly add the finely grated Parmigiano continually whisking until creamy and smooth. Take off heat and let sit.

Finish the ravioli in the pan

In true Italian fashion, we always finish our pasta in the pan. This gets all that flavor into the ravioli and we can play with the consistency of the sauce.

Before we do that, we want to prepare the garnish. In a fry pan toss in some chopped prosciutto and sauté until nice and crispy. Take out of pan with a slotted spoon and place in a ramekin.

Scoop a good few spoonfuls of the Parmigiano cream into the pan and add some of the pasta water. Turn heat to low, then scoop the ravioli out of the pot and straight into the sauté pan they go. Toss gently to coat the ravioli with the sauce.

Almost time to eat. Plate the ravioli in a nice bowl. Remember, presentation is key! Spoon some of the Parmigiano cream over the top.

Garnishing this Squash and mascarpone Ravioli with Parmigiano cream

This step is really optional, however, I am feeling like some salt to counter the sweetness, so I am going to sprinkle the crispy prosciutto on top. The end result will be fabulous! Kitchen tip: To make the recipe vegetarian, you need to replace or omit the Pecorino in the filling and the Parmigiano on top, and omit the prosciutto.

I love the delicateness of the pasta, and yet still has that bite to it. Then in comes the filling, sweet, creamy, pungent and those crumbles of pistachio just lovely. The sauce just compliments the ravioli, so creamy and acidic from the Parmigiano. I have to say that crispy prosciutto is the bomb. Just enough salt to balance the whole. So, so delightful.

I hope you are enjoying these as much as we are!

Check out some of our other wonderful ravioli recipes:

• Amazing Indian spiced ravioli
• Ricotta and spinach ravioli in tomato sauce
• Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli with brown butter, sage, and pine nuts
• Smoked cheese ravioli in brown butter sage walnut sauce

Buon Appetito!

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