1 Year Wedding Anniversary Dinner Part 1 - Homemade Ravioli with Butternut Squash, Mascarpone & Pancetta Filling

In light of my one year wedding anniversary with hubs - I decided to make him an at-home feast instead of dining out to celebrate this big milestone in our lives.  Obvi I photographed the entire thing so I could share everything (in step by step fashion) with all of you lovey foodies of mine.  Since I wanted to make everything from scratch - step one was getting over to William Sonoma and getting myself an old school pasta machine so I could make some fresh egg noodle sheets to make my ravioli with.  Great purchase - I highly recommend it.  Now - on to the fun part...

You will need: (makes about 24 ravioli)

For the Egg Pasta Sheets:
4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
6 eggs - lightly beaten

For the Filling:
1 medium butternut squash - cut horizontally and seeds removed
4 cloves of garlic (ends removed but skin intact)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
4 shallots (chopped)
2 tbsp fresh sage (chopped)
4-5 tbsp pancetta (chopped into tiny cubes)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup of mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper to taste

For the Cream Sauce:

6 shallots (chopped)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp sage (chopped)
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Oil both halves of your butternut squash and lightly salt and pepper.  Put two garlic cloves - skins intact - in each half of the squash in the valley where the seeds were.  Roast the squash for 1 hour on a baking sheet uncovered.

In the meantime, dump your flour out on a large working surface and create a well in the middle and carefully pour in your beaten eggs (refer to photo above).  Slowly and carefully (being mindful not to break the sides of the well as the egg will run), begin adding some flour from the sides to your egg with a fork and mix it together.  Keep doing this adding more and more flour until the eggs are wet but no longer runny -you may then use your hands to work the rest of the flour in to the dough.  The dough should be moist but not sticky and uniformly mixed.  Separate the dough into 8-10 separate pieces.  Using your pasta maker - follow the instructions to feed each piece of dough through to create your ravioli sheets.  *NOTE* if you do not have a pasta maker - you can use your muscles with a rolling pin and ( still working in batches) roll out your dough into sheets.  Add more flour as your go if the dough gets sticky.  Cut the edges of your ravioli sheets so you have perfect rectangles - you should have enough dough to make about 20-24 large raviolis.

Once your squash is roasted - set it aside to cool.  In the meantime, saute your pancetta in your butter in a pan until it browns - add your chopped shallots, garlic and sage and let saute for another 3 minutes.  Add white wine to deglaze the pan and let simmer for another 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In a large bowl - scoop the flesh of the squash in.  Remove the skins from your roasted garlic and add to the mixture.  Add your shallot and pancetta mixture to the bowl along with your egg yolk, mascarpone cheese and some salt and pepper to taste.  Mix thoroughly.

Brush the edges of each ravioli sheet with egg as you go - put 1 tsp of filling in the middle and fold the sheet over - pressing down on all sides and making sure no air is left.  Seal all edges.   Dust them with flour and set on a baking sheet separating the layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Boil a large pot of water.  While your water is boiling - saute your shallots for the sauce in butter.  Add your sage and let cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add your chicken stock and cream and reduce for about 10-12 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  When your water is boiled - add your ravioli and cook only for 4-5 minutes.  Remove with a sieve and add to your sauce mixture.  Sprinkle with a little Parmesan (or if you want to get super fancy - use freshly grated buffalo Parmesan from The Village Cheesemonger like I did).

Serve & Enjoy!

Stay tuned for Anniversary dinner part two!

xo Chef Natty