You Won't Find this in the Pumpkin Patch

It doesn't quite feel like fall outside in Houston, but I am primed and ready for Fall flavors. If you know me well you know that this is my favorite time of year. Pumpkins, turkeys, crunchy leaves, over-the-top Halloween costumes - it all holds a special place in my tiny heart. So when I found an old magazine tear-out in my "to try" file with a recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli, I knew I had to try it. The ravioli are paired with a Gorgonzola sauce which I was hesitant to use thinking that Gorgonzola flavors would swallow up these pumpkin treats, but I was delightfully surprised to discover that the sauce is delicate, smooth and the perfect partner to tango with this pasta.

I started out by getting the water out of the canned pumpkin. It seems like you'll lose pumpkin by spreading it out on paper towels to absorb the moisture, but have a little faith. After a good five minutes you'll be left with pumpkin that pretty much peels up off the towels and easily transports itself into a mixing bowl.

While the pumpkin was draining I combined the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, fresh minced sage, nutmeg, and salt.

And then the ravioli guts all came together.

You can make these ravioli up to 2 days ahead of time according to the recipe. You just cover them with plastic wrap so they won't dry out and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them and make their fun little sauce.

It's a pretty easy process to make ravioli from wonton wrappers. Lay out one wrapper (covering the rest with a damp towel so they don't dry out), add about 2 tsps of the pumpkin mix and then wet the edges, so that when you fold the wrapper over it seals and leaves you with a nice ravioli. Now my grocery store only has square wonton wrappers, which I find unfortunate because I think that round ones make for prettier ravioli - you can even sandwich two if you'd like.

To cook the ravioli, you heat water in a Dutch oven being careful NOT to boil, but only simmer the water. Add about half of the ravioli (while keeping the other half hiding under a damp towel) and cook for 4 minutes. The little buggers float when they're ready, letting you know that hot tub time is over for them. ;D You'll have to remove these from the water pretty carefully as they can tear easily. Keep the first half warm while you cook the second half.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan combine 1 cup of skim milk and 1 Tbsp of flour and heat to boiling while whisking continually. Keep the milk on the heat for about 1 minute or until you can really notice that it's thickening.

Then remove the sauce from the heat, add 1 1/2 Tbsp of butter and stir until it melts. Once it's melted, toss in your 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola cheese and stir gently until it's melted and incorporated.

To put it all together, place 5 or 6 ravioli in a bowl or on a plate and add about 3 Tbsp of sauce on top. You can sprinkle a teaspoon or two of chopped hazelnuts to top it off. Heaven on a plate. Shockingly tasty.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 30 round wonton wrappers
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Preparation

Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl using a rubber spatula. Stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper, and nutmeg.

Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep from drying), spoon 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly with fingers to form a half-moon. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

Fill a large Dutch oven with water; bring to a simmer. Add half of ravioli to pan (cover remaining ravioli with a damp towel to keep from drying). Cook 4 minutes or until done (do not boil), stirring gently. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon; lightly coat with cooking spray, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli.

Combine milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Gently stir in Gorgonzola.

Place 5 ravioli in each of 6 shallow bowls, and drizzle each serving with 3 tablespoons Gorgonzola mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

250 (33% from fat)

Fat:

9.1g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.7g,poly 0.7g)

Protein:

9.5g

Carbohydrate:

33g

Fiber:

3.1g

Cholesterol:

22mg

Iron:

2.4mg

Sodium:

636mg

Calcium:

162mg

Cooking Light, November 2007