Butternut Squash Ravioli with Prawns and Fried Sage

I wanted to teach myself how to make ravioli. I tried a couple of techniques and learned a ton. And look! Yum!!!

I was inspired by The Cactus Club Cafe’s Chef Rob Feenie’s recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioli with Prawns. Above is their English Bay location, right on the beach. 

The Dough

You will need 2 1/2 cups flour, 4 large eggs and 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil. 

Add just 2 cups of the flour and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. Pulse until it comes together. If it looks wet, add more flour.

Knead the dough together for a few minutes then cover and let rest for half an hour.

The Filling

Combine 2 cups of cooked butternut squash (1 small squash) with 1 cup softened cream cheese, some salt and pepper, a crushed garlic clove and a pinch of nutmeg. 

The Pasta

I tried to use the lasagna sheet disc to press out the dough using the Philips Pasta Makers but it was a disaster. First time the machine did not even work. The second time the dough would not come out of the pasta maker. Yes, I am getting rid of it. What a pain in the ass that machine is. 

Old school it is! I got out my hand-cranked pasta maker and got to work instead. 

I made a thin sheet of dough and put it on my ravioli press. Make sure that the ravioli press is floured and that you don’t over-fill the dough.

Lightly water the edges to create a seal, cover with another sheet, press out excess air and use a rolling pin to press together. I am happy to report the Sugru successfully fixed my ravioli press!

That said, it was not easy getting these ravioli out of the press. I had to use a fork and try to gently get them to fall out. I had about a 50% success rate. 

I also had hand ravioli presses so I tried them too. 

They worked OK…

The did not get quite the perfect press that the ravioli press did. 

The ones that came from the press were the prettiest!

Cooking Pasta & Sauce

Bring salted water to a boil but try for it not to be too crazy. This can result in broken raviolis. It will only take a couple of minutes for the ravioli to rise to the top of the water, cooked. 

I kept my sauce easy and rich by melting some butter, adding crushed garlic and frying up some sage.

Foodie Results

Cook some shrimp and plate on top of the ravioli with some freshly grated Parmesan. 

Wow, a ton of work! I learned a lot, am finally going to get rid of that huge mechanical pasta maker and enjoyed every luscious bite of my Butternut Squash Ravioli with Shrimp and Fried Sage. That said, if I have the opportunity to go to the restaurant and eat it without all that work I would say yes! But it is exciting to be able to create something so delicious in my own kitchen.

[yumprint-recipe id=’69’]