Pumpkin Ravioli with Pumpkin Hazelnut Sauce, Cranberries and Spinach

Nick bought me a very nice pasta attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer for my birthday several months ago. I haven't used it since the day he cooked me homemade raviolis for my birthday. When I cleaned out my banquet about a week ago, I found it inside! I immediately felt guilty and decided that I need to start making use of it. Now that I am getting the hang of making my own pastas, I can't wait to use it for making spinach fettuccine, spaghetti etc.! This recipe does not require the pasta attachment but you could use it to help you roll out the dough and get it nice and thin if you own one.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Pumpkin Hazelnut Sauce

Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli topped with Cranberries, Spinach and Pecorino Cheese

Prep Time: 45 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min

Ingredients

Pasta
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs water
- 1 1/2 cup of flour (I used half Semolina Flour and Half Unbleached Flour)
- 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
- Pinch of salt

Filling
- 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of tofu
- 1/4 cup of feta cheese
- Handful of dried cranberries
- 1/2 tbs of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of nutmeg

Sauce
- 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 tbs mascarpone cheese (you could substitute cream cheese)
- 3/4 cup of hazelnut milk (you could substitute cream and potentially add a hazelnut extract)
- 1 tbs of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/2 tbs of honey
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup of Baby Spinach
- Dried cranberries
- Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (optional topping)

Directions

Pasta
- Combine all ingredients and mix and knead together with your fists for about 5 minutes
- I used half Semolina Flour and half unbleached flour. Semolina is popular for pasta but can be gritty and tough to work with, so its better to use just regular flour or half of each.
- I would add a lot of flour to your hands before kneading the dough because it is VERY sticky.
- Once you knead for several minutes, put dough in plastic bag in fridge for 20 minutes to rest.
- Once rested, sprinkle flour on your kitchen countertop. Place the dough on top of that and begin to roll it out with a rolling pin. Keep sprinkling flour on top of the dough as you roll it out so it doesn't stick to the pin. Get the dough pretty thin.
- Then cut squares or circles out on it. Place some filling in a square and top with another square, trim off excess pasta from edges with a knife and seal the edges by pinching together.
- Once done, drop in pot of boiling water and cook for about 10-12 minutes until tender.

Filling
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Set aside until pasta dough is ready and cut.
- You could use a variety of filling ingredients for this pasta besides what I used. You could use ricotta cheese & pumpkin, or multiple cheeses mixed or sauteed veggies.

Sauce
- On medium heat, saute onion and garlic with a little olive oil. Add the mascarpone cheese and hazelnut milk. Whisk together to melt and combine. Reduce to low and add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and honey. Add fresh spinach and cranberries if desired and continue to stir until spinach is wilted.

Once pasta is cooked, drain the water and combine with the sauce. Sprinkle with dried cranberries and pecorino cheese. Enjoy!