Thursday, April 1, 2010

Pumpkin Ravioli in Broth with Vegetables and Beans


Pumpkin ravioli are one of my absolute favorite foods, but I don't have them often because it's hard to find a way to prepare them that doesn't involve some sort of creamy sauce or brown butter. Even if you make your sauce "light" with a cannelini bean, cottage cheese or tofu puree, it still has a tendency to overpower the pumpkin flavor.
Last week I was scrolling through the recipes on Herbivoracious and found this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli in a light broth with vegetables and beans, it was perfect! A complete meal featuring pumpkin ravioli, but also with beans and vegetables in a simple broth - just what I was looking for.
Unfortunately it's not fall, and sugar pumpkins are not available, so I used canned pumpkin puree, which was a chore to find! I also decided to really pump up the pumpkin by making the ravioli dough with half pumpkin and half egg. Not only does this flavor the dough, but it makes it even healthier!
I loosely followed the recipes from Herbivoracious, and found this dish to be excellent! Though it may seem like a fall-like dish, the leeks and carrots and vegetable broth make it spring-frendly. I am looking forward to creating a dish with the other half of the ravioli I made and froze, and I've got a few ideas in mind!

Pumpkin Pasta

2 1/2 - 3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. EVOO

Add 2 1/2 cups of flour to the bowl of a mixer, make a well in the middle.
Add eggs, pumpkin puree, salt and EVOO.
Attach dough hook, mix dough on low speed for 5 minutes.
If it is wet and sticky, sprinkle in more flour, if it is too dry, add warm water 1 tbsp. at a time.
Remove from mixer, knead for a minute, roll into a ball and rest for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into fourths, run through a pasta roller to create long, thin sheets.
Let dough rest again.
Yield enough dough for 3 dozen ravioli with leftover scraps.

adapted from Herbivoracious


1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
3 leaves fresh sage, chiffonade or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a saute pan over medium-low, add the butter, onions and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper, saute for 4-5 minutes, until translucent.
Spoon into a mixing bowl.
Add chili flakes, sage, parmesan, nutmeg and pumpkin puree.
Stir to combine.

Scoop 1 tsp. mounds of mixture onto pasta sheets, place another sheet on top, press air out around filling, press edges to seal, slice off rough edges and cut pasta.
Place on a flour dusted baking sheet and place in the freezer, continue until finished.
Yield about 2.5-3 dozen ravioli.

adapted from Herbivoracious, serves 2

2 large leeks, white parts only, cleaned and sliced thin
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
3 medium carrots, fine dice
3 cloves garlic, minced 
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup white wine
1 15 oz. can cannelini beans or other white beans
4 cups vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese and chili flakes for serving

Heat a soup pot over medium heat.
Add EVOO, leeks, carrots, onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper.
Cook for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are slightly caramelized.
Add white wine, reduce by half.
Add stock, bay leaves and beans.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
While broth simmers, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Season with salt, drop in ravioli (I made 1 dozen for 2 servings), cook for 5-7 minutes, until ravioli float to the top.
Remove from water with a slotted spoon and add to the broth.
Ladle broth and vegetables into a bowl, add ravioli, top with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

9 comments:

Sophie @ yumventures said...

I love that you make your own ravioli! Great idea to put pumpkin in the dough :)

VegeCooking Club said...

I love this idea. I have been looking for new soup recipes and this one sounds great. I need to pass this to my friend Justine too.

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

This sounds SOOOOOO good! I so wish I had a pasta roller to make pumpkin pasta. I would totally love this, I know. Maybe someday...

Kelly said...

Fantastic recipe Ashlee. I actually have plans to make goat cheese ravioli soon and was thinking that a cream sauce may be too rich so I think you might have inspired me to go broth instead. Thanks!

Kelly said...

Fantastic recipe Ashlee. I actually have plans to make goat cheese ravioli soon and was thinking that a cream sauce may be too rich so I think you might have inspired me to go broth instead. Thanks!

Pam said...

Yum. Yum. Yum. This is going on my menu for next week for sure! Thanks!!

Joanne said...

I love the pumpkin-on-pumpkin! And what a great way to enjoy pumpkin ravioli so that the flavors really shine through. I've been daydreaming about having htem with pesto. ANy thoughts?

Kristen said...

This sounds amazing! I agree with Sophie... putting pumpkin in the dough is brilliant!

Jamie Hayworth-Chin said...

so, i tried this recipe...with one big exception...and it was SOOOOO delicious...thank you, thank you, thank you! Instead of making my own pumpkin dough (due to time constraints) i used wonton wrappers. If the soup tasted that good using wontons i can't imagine how incredible it was with homemade pumpkin dough!