Cooking With (S)Marty Pants: February 2012

As you’ll soon come to learn about me (and hopefully love about my cooking), is that I like to take someone else’s recipe and change it up, by adding different ingredients or seasonings. My best friend Becky gave me this recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioli in a Brown Butter Sage Sauce. It called for a “pinch” of cayenne in the mixture, and for quickly boiling the raviolis and then adding them to the brown butter sage sauce to brown them off.

I love butter, but, I’ve had some disastrous dinners because they had just too much butter. And, since we tend to like things spicy around here, in place of her pinch of cayenne, I’ve added some chipotle chili powder into the squash mixture. And in place of the butter sauce, I made a light cream sauce, with a bit of heat. The best part about this recipe is using wontons, which you can find in the freezer aisle of your store. They will save you from having to make your own ravioli from scratch.

Try it, you might just Lovett

Butternut Squash Ravioli Ingredients
1 c. cooked butternut squash
½ c. cream cheese
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. chopped garlic
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1 package square wonton wrappers

Creamy Chipotle Sage Sauce Ingredients
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp flour
2 c. milk
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. chiffonade fresh sage

Preparation
Cut a small squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and wrap in foil. Roast in a 375 degrees F oven for 1 hour, or until the squash is tender. Let cool. Scoop the soft squash into a bowl and discard the skin.

Place one cup of the butternut squash into a mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg yolk, garlic, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and chipotle chili powder. Mix thoroughly.

To make the raviolis
Lay one wonton wrapper on a flour dusted surface. Using the tip of your finger or a small pastry brush, dampen the wonton wrapper all the way around the edge with water. Place 2 tsp. of the butternut squash filling into the center. Lay another wonton wrapper on top. Cuff your hands and place them in a circle around the filling. Press down to release any air from the center area. Then, using your fingers, pinch the edges of the two wontons together tightly, around all four sides, to ensure that none of the filling will come out when they are cooked. Place filled wontons on a floured plate, without stacking on top of each other, or they will stick together. Place a wet towel over the filled wontons to prevent them from drying out.

Filled raviolis with one more to complete

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the raviolis and boil for one minute, or until they float. Drain well and place on serving plate. Spoon the sauce over the wontons and serve.

To make the sauce
Melt the 2 tbsp. butter in a large non stick pan over medium heat. Add the flour and using a whisk, incorporate it into the butter until it is smooth. Allow the butter/flour mixture to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes. Slowly add the milk, one half cup at a time, whisking so that it is well blended. Once the sauce is smooth, stir in the garlic powder, nutmeg and chipotle chili powder. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow sauce to come to a low boil, then reduce heat to medium low and allow it to thicken slightly, stirring occasionally. Once sauce has thickened, stir in the sage.

Chipotle Sage Cream Sauce

Allow sauce to cook on low about 5 minutes before serving over the cooked raviolis.

Serve your raviolis hot, with a cool, crisp spinach salad

This butternut squash recipe will fill about a million wonton wrappers (ha ha), but the good news is that you can freeze any leftover mixture, or, you can fill all of your wontons and freeze them. Just place them in a single layer on a flour-dusted baking sheet & cover with plastic wrap. Once they are frozen, put them into zip lock baggies and freeze for up to two weeks. I guarantee that this dish will make your loved ones weep with happiness.