What do you do with your pumpkins the day after Halloween? Some people make sweets, my folks put them out back for the birds, but I like to take the unique opportunity to make an entire winter worth of pumpkin ravioli filling.
First roast or sauté the pumpkin flesh until it breaks down into a puree, add some cream or half and half and some butter and season to your taste, I like sage, tarragon, salt and pepper.
Make your favorite pasta recipe and roll out sheets for filling.
Once it is completely cooled, drop in spoonfuls of the pumpkin filling, cover with another sheet of pasta and seal. You can use a pasta cutter to make neat pretty pasta, but I always like to leave them very rugged and not waste the pasta by trimming it off.
Let the ravioli sit while you prepare the sauce, and then drop in boiling water for just a few minutes to cook. My favorite sauce "recipe" is below but a simple sage and brown butter is also very complimentary:
Sautee diced shallot or onion and garlic in butter until soft, add about 2 cups chicken stock and reduce sown to ¼ cup. Add cream or half and half (about a cup) and reduce until liquid is ½ the original volume. Strain out the bits of shallot and return the reduction to the saucepan over low heat. Whisk in a few tablespoons of cold butter, allowing the sauce to thicken and serve immediately. Garnish with crispy sage leaves.
