I made ravioli for the first time because I needed to do something besides cry. I was reeling from a broken heart—the serious kind that triggered a multi-state move back into my parents’ house—and I was desperate to think about anything besides him and my busted plans. One night, my parents headed off to an event, nervously leaving me alone as if time had looped and I was their infant again. I watched them go. A fall breeze sent a few crunchy brown leaves scratching across the driveway. The whole scene was too cinematically bleak, even for my broken-hearted self. Time for a culinary intervention.
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Grocery stores, with their offer of possibility and purpose, can be a tonic. I wandered down aisles, a basket hooked over my arm, buoyed by my mission. No better moment to learn a new skill, I had decided and immediately printed out a recipe for stuffed pumpkin ravioli. Did I have a pasta machine? No. Was I hungry? Also, no. Still, the project anchored the empty hours ahead of me with some kind of hope. After all the work was done—sauteéing the onions, rolling out the pasta, stamping out ravioli with a biscuit cutter, browning butter—I sat down at the table. By this point, it was raining hard outside, a downpour with a sense of drama to match my own. I took a bite. The ravioli was tender, with creamy pumpkin-ricotta filling and a butter sauce accented by sizzled sage. Sublime, even if it wasn’t the cure for sadness.
A decade passed before I made the pumpkin ravioli again, this time with store-bought fresh pasta, as my children (a.k.a. the evidence of my healed and very full heart) crawled underfoot and jumped on the furniture. Turns out the skill I acquired that rainy fall night ten years ago was not ravioli-making but cooking through despair. Life plunges us all into dark valleys where we feel uncertain and directionless. At least if we cook, we’ll always be one step closer to the end of it.
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 16oz can Pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 Large egg
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese
- 2 tbsp ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp shallots, chopped
- pinch of nutmeg
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 lbs store-bought fresh pasta sheets
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 24 sage leaves
- lemon slices, for serving
Pumpkin Ravioli Instructions
1. Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped shallot and sauté until soft and golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in pumpkin pureé and season with salt, pepper, and just a dash of nutmeg. Continue cooking the pumpkin mixture to release excess moisture for another 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer pumpkin mixture to a food processor with the egg, 2 Tbs. ricotta, and ¼ cup pecorino. Process until incorporated and smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Lay 1 pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Drop scant tablespoons of pumpkin filling 1 inch apart. With a pastry brush dipped in water, lightly moisten pasta around each mound of filling. Top with another sheet of pasta; press gently but firmly around mounds to seal. Using a ravioli stamp or a fluted pastry wheel, cut into 2 ½-inch squares. Brush away any excess flour. Place ravioli on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
3. Freeze ravioli on baking sheets for at least 30 minutes. (If freezing for longer, transfer them to a plastic bag to keep fresh.)
4. When ready to cook, set a large dry skillet over medium heat and add the walnuts. Toast until lightly browned and fragrant, stirring periodically, watching carefully to be sure they don’t burn. Transfer toasted walnuts to a bowl and wipe out skillet with a clean towel. Return to heat and melt the butter. When melted, cook until butter turns dark golden brown, with a nutty aroma. Swirl in 2 tbsps. olive oil and add the sage leaves in batches, letting them sizzle and crisp on both sides without burning. Remove fried sage leaves to a paper towel-lined plate. Quickly chop half of the fried sage leaves and reserve the others whole for garnish.
5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the ravioli for 3–5 minutes, stirring once, or until they float. With a slotted spoon, transfer cooked ravioli to the skillet with the butter sauce. Add the toasted walnuts and chopped sage and stir gently to combine. Serve ravioli in wide shallow bowls, garnishing with whole fried sage leaves and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon.
