I’ve come to appreciate the work and skill it requires to make stuffed pasta. Making this butternut squash ravioli was intense, and I have learned some valuable lessons about making ravioli. Lessons that I will generously share with you; lessons that I will employ when I try this recipe again. After all, I still have half of my butternut squash filling left to use!
Lesson #1: Make the dish lighter.
The butternut squash got hidden by the pasta and the alfredo sauce. To counteract this, I will make eggless pasta dough (egg pasta had 5 eggs! eek!) and lighten the sauce by using less cream and some sort of thickener (flour or potato starch).
The toasted walnuts complemented the butternut squash filling perfectly. The filling was heartwarming and so delicious.
Lesson #2: Cut pasta into squares and assemble the ravioli individually.
I tried the assembly line method, but I think there is a reason why we have moved out of the industrial age. I laid a large rectangle of pasta on the counter and plopped a teaspoon of filling about 1 inch apart. I wet the pasta down for some adhesive, placed another large rectangle of pasta on top and sealed it into several ravioli squares. The problem came when I wanted to move the ravioli. The liquid had made the pasta adhere to the countertop too! Not good.
The method that works much better is to cut the pasta into squares then add a small amount of butternut squash to the middle of the square.
I have some butternut squash ravioli from Costco –haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure it’s no comparison to your homemade version! AW