With creamy goat cheese, tart cranberries, and sweet butternut squash, what isn’t there to love about these Butternut Squash Ravioli?
Ravioli have always been one of my favorite dishes, due to their versatility. They can be stuffed with just about anything, from mushrooms and spinach, to lobster or butternut squash.
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Growing up, I spent many hours with my Gramma, laboring over a batch of ravioli. Like many Italian dishes, ravioli is truly a labor of love.
While we always complained about how much work ravioli were to make, we always appreciated the end result. And putting that much effort into a dish can only be described as an expression of love.
The Butternut Squash Ravioli Backstory
The very first time I made these butternut squash ravioli was for my (now) husband, back in 2016. It was my first attempt at the recipe and meant to be a treat for him after a long weekend away from home spent working.
I spent Saturday preparing the ravioli. At that time I had only a few mixing bowls, a ravioli mold, and a rolling pin.
So, the dough was hand rolled across my dining room table. The squash, beaten by a stand mixer. And mold after mold filled to the seams with butternut squash.
If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is!
By the end of Saturday, I had a heaping cookie sheet of butternut squash ravioli ready to go for Sunday’s lunch. So into the fridge they went.
On Sunday morning, I peeked under the towel covering the ravioli. To my despair, the golden dough from yesterday was now a dull grey. The eggs had gone bad overnight and the ravioli were ruined.
All that hard work was wiped out.
But I wasn’t ready to panic just yet.
During my ravioli research, I had read a tip about using wonton wrappers as a dough shortcut. I had a package on hand just in case.
So I had 60 unused wonton wrappers and a bowl full of leftover ravioli filling. I got to work.
In under an hour, I had another cookie sheet full of butternut squash ravioli! What had painstakingly taken most of my Saturday was replicated in just 45 minutes!
By the time Michael arrived home, there was a bowl of warm butternut squash ravioli topped with sage brown butter waiting for him. Michael never stopped talking about those ravioli and they are now famous in our family. They even made it into my father-in-law’s speech at our wedding!
So if you want to show someone you love them, make them these ravioli. But, seriously.
Step 1: Bake the Butternut Squash
First, you’ll want to bake the squash. Preheat the oven to 450F. While the oven is warming up, prepare the squash.
Begin by peeling the squash. Then, cut off the top and bottom of the squash. Cut the squash in half horizontally. Next, cut each half in half vertically, creating four sections. Remove the seeds using a spoon. Lastly, rub the squash with about 1 tsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place the squash on a baking sheet and cook for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, or until the squash is soft. You can test for doneness by inserting a fork in the squash. It should enter and exit the squash easily. Cook another few minutes if the squash is still hard and repeat the test.
Remove the squash from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet.
Step 2: Prepare the Ravioli Filling
While the squash cools, heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a small skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion softens. Remove from heat.
Next, break the squash into smaller chunks or mash the squash with a fork. Doing so will help speed up the food processing time and decrease the odds of having random large chunks of squash in your filling.
Then combine the broken up squash, shallot mixture, goat cheese, cranberries, and spices in the food processor. Blend for several minutes until smooth.
Step 3: Set Up Your Ravioli Prep Station.
Next, set up your ravioli prep station.
Take the wonton wrappers out of the refrigerator. Fill a small bowl with an inch or so of egg white (about 3 tablespoons). Get a spoon to scoop the filling.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set up a square of parchment paper or use a plate for filling and folding the ravioli. And grab some paper towels. It’s gonna get messy!
Step 4: Fill the Ravioli
Start by putting one wonton wrapper on your plate.
Side note: I prefer the Nasoya brand wrappers because they are thick enough to hold the filling in without tearing, but thin enough not to upset the filling to dough ratio. Also, they are widely available in big box grocery stores. I buy mine from Kroger.
Next, spoon a small quarter size dollop of filling into the center of the wrapper.
The key to filling is to not over-stuff! Over-stuffing makes it hard to get a good seal on the wrapper and can result in the ravioli bursting in the hot water. We also want enough stuffing to make the ravioli worth our time. There’s a sweet spot.
Wipe the inside edges of the wrapper with egg white. It’s easiest to use your index finger to do this. Simply dip your finger in the egg whites and wipe it along the inside edge repeatedly until all four edges have been coated in egg white.
Next, pull one wrapper corner diagonally to the opposite corner, making a triangle. Seal the ravioli by running your finger along the edges and applying pressure. The wrapper edges will stick together.
I prefer to start from one of the two outside edges, and run my finger towards the diagonal point (where you first formed the triangle). Then I’ll start from the opposite outside edge and work back towards the same diagonal point as before. I find this helps keep the filling inside the wrapper with minimal “leakage.”
And that’s it! You’ve got yourself a rav! Put the ravioli on the lined baking sheet. Then repeat these steps until you run out of wrappers or filling.
Once you have enough ravioli to fill a baking sheet, you can make a second tier by putting a sheet of parchment paper on top of the first layer and placing the ravioli on top of the paper. You can repeat this method, as needed.
Step 5: Store Ravioli (Until Ready to Cook)
When you’re done, cover the sheet of raviolis with a clean cloth and place in the refrigerator. You can keep the ravioli in the refrigerator if you plan on cooking them the same day that you made them. However, they will not keep long. Move the ravioli to the freezer if you don’t plan on cooking them within the same day. Once they have frozen, pop them off the baking sheet and store them in a freezer bag.
Step 6: Cook the Ravioli
When you’re ready to cook the ravioli, bring a large sauce pan to a boil. Use a large slotted spoon to gently add the ravioli a few at a time to the boiling water. You should only add about half of a sheet at a time to prevent overcrowding.
The ravioli will take 3 to 5 minutes to cook. When they float to the top, they are ready to be removed from the water . The wonton wrappers will also change color. They will go from a yellow hue to a more papery, clear hue.
Remove the ravioli with the slotted spoon and add them to a medium serving bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss gently to coat. This will help prevent the ravioli from sticking together, which is a bigger problem with wonton wrappers than traditional ravioli dough. Add a little more olive oil each time you add more raviolis.
Step 7: Prepare the Sage Brown Butter Sauce
While the raviolis cook, heat a small skillet on medium heat and add the butter. Stir frequently. It will take several minutes for the butter to brown. The butter will turn a deep gold and then begin to form brown bits. Once the butter turns a toasted brown color the butter is ready. Add the sage. Pour over the ravioli and toss to coat.
I like to add toasted nuts to my dish. Pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts. They all work wonderfully. If you want to add toasted nuts, add them in just after the butter melts. They will brown along with the butter.
Serve the ravioli. Top with brown butter, nuts, goat cheese, tarragon, and cranberries.
Make sure to check out more of our butternut squash recipes! We think you’ll like these:
- Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto
- Apple Pecan Butternut Squash Boats
- Fall Minestrone Soup
- Maple Balsamic Butternut Squash Pasta
- Roasted Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Roasted Butternut Squash
- 1 butternut squash (about 4c cubed)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Butternut Squash Ravioli
- roasted butternut squash
- 1 shallot diced
- 2 tsp garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 6 oz goat cheese
- 2 Tbsp dried cranberries
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp tarragon
- ยผ tsp nutmeg
- 1 pkg wonton wrappers
- 3 Tbsp egg white
Sage Brown Butter
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 2 Tbsp toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
Instructions
Roasted Butternut Squash
- Preheat the oven to 450ยฐF.
- Peel the butternut squash. Cut off the top and bottom of the squash. Cut the squash in half horizontally. Cut each section in half vertically, splitting the squash in half. Repeat with other half of squash. Remove the seeds using a spoon.
- Rub the squash interior with approximately 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and ground pepper. Place on baking sheet.
- Cook squash for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the squash is soft. You can test the firmness by inserting a fork into the squash. If it enters easily, the squash is cooked. If the squash is still tough, cook for several more minutes and test again.
- Once the squash is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes.
Butternut Squash Ravioli
- In a small skillet, heat 1 tsp of olive oil. Add the shallot and garlic. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the shallot softens. Remove from heat.
- Combine the squash, goat cheese, cranberries, shallot, and spices in a food processor and blend for several minutes until smooth.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a bowl with about 3 Tbsp. of egg white.
- Spoon a quarter size dollop of filling into the center of the wonton wrapper. Lightly wet the four inside edges of the wrapper with egg white. Fold the ravioli by pulling one corner of the wrapper to the opposite corner, creating a triangle. Press firmly along the two edges of the triangle to seal the ravioli. Try to avoid over-filling the ravioli, as this can cause the ravioli to burst in the hot water during cooking.
- Place the folded ravioli onto the baking sheet. Leave space between the ravioli to prevent them from sticking together. Once the sheet is full, place a second layer of parchment paper on top of the first layer of ravioli and begin filling that sheet with ravioli.
- Repeat the process until you run out of filling or ravioli wrappers. Cover the finished ravioli with a clean towel and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them. If you do not plan on cooking the ravioli on the same day, place the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the ravioli freeze, pop them off of the sheet and store them in an air-tight freezer bag.
- Fill a large sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Add several ravioli at a time to the boiling water using a large slotted spoon. Only add about half of a sheet at a time, to prevent overcrowding. Cook the ravioli for about 3 to 5 minutes. The ravioli will float to the top of the water when they are done. The wrappers will also change from a yellow to a transparent hue.
- Remove the cooked ravioli using a slotted spoon and place in a medium serving bowl. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and toss gently to coat. This will help prevent sticking, as wonton wrappers are considerably more adhesive than traditional ravioli dough.
- While the ravioli are cooking, make your brown butter. Heat a small skillet on medium heat and add the butter, stirring regularly. Once the butter is melted, add the nuts (if desired). Brown bits should begin forming in the butter. Cook until the butter is a toasted brown hue, then remove from heat. Add the sage.
- Top the ravioli with the brown butter and toss gently to coat. Garnish with additional goat cheese, cranberries, and tarragon, if desired. Serve.
Notes
- I often use Vermont Cranberry Tarragon Goat cheese as a quicker substitution to the goat cheese, dried cranberries, and tarragaon called for in the recipe.
- I prefer to use the Nasoya brand wonton wrappers. They are more durable without being to thick, so they will neither tear easily nor disrupt the filling to dough ratio.
- You can also use pre-cut cubed butternut squash to save time. A typical container has about 3 cups, which is sufficient for this recipe.ย
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