Fresh Pumpkin Ravioli With Sage and Butter

One vegetarian. One overly zealous meat eater.  One pint-sized picky palate who never met a vegetable he liked...... unless you count french fries.

Welcome to dinner at my house.....where I prep and cook a variety of entrees every night with the fervor and time constraint of a Top Chef contestant....My life is a perpetual Quick Fire challenge. 

But every once in awhile the universe shines upon me.....and I prepare a recipe......a single recipe.....that will please one-and-all.  

Fresh Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Butter

You will need:

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small shallot, finely minced or grated

1 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

salt to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 small bay leaf

1/4 cup asiago cheese, plus more for serving

30 wonton wrappers

1 egg, whisked with a fork

4 Tablespoons butter

4-6 fresh, finely chopped sage leaves, plus extra for serving

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over low to medium heat.  Add the minced shallot and cook until soft (about 2-3minutes). 

Add pumpkin and season with nutmeg and salt.  Stir in cream and toss in a small bay leaf. Let cook for 10 minutes over low to medium heat until excess moisture has evaporated and mixture is thickened.  

Remove bay leaf. Sprinkle asiago cheese over pumpkin and stir.

Remove from heat to cool. To speed things up, place the pumpkin filling in the refrigerator.

Lay out 30 wonton wrappers. Brush the edges of the wrappers with the egg. 

Place a heaping teaspoon of pumpkin puree in the center of each wrapper.  Fold wrappers  in half on a diagonal to make a triangle.  Seal edges firmly with your fingers. 

Refrigerate ravioli while you boil a big pot of water.

Place 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet with the minced sage leaves.  Heat on low until butter is melted.  Season with salt.  Add a little cream if you are feeling indulgent.  If not, leave as is.

Salt the boiling water generously.  Add the ravioli and cook for 3-4 minutes.  The ravioli will float to the top.  Drain. 

Place ravioli in the skillet with the melted butter and sage.  Toss to coat the ravioli. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.

Sprinkle additional asiago and sage over ravioli......and bon appetit!

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Butterscotch Dipped Apples

Nothing says Fall better than biting into a fresh locally grown apple. 

Nothing says Fall better than biting into a fresh locally grown apple dripping with butterscotch.

My apples of choice are Jonagold from Bobwhite Acres in Coopersburg.  They are crisp and juicy with a more sour than sweet taste.  Perfect for complimenting sweet butterscotch.

Let's get butterscotching....

Place a stick of unsalted butter in your heaviest soup pot....the thickness of the pot will make it less likely to burn the butter and sugar....Nowhere else in life would a heavy bottom be so appreciated. 

 

 Melt the butter over low heat until the butter is almost melted.

Now add 1 cup each of dark brown sugar and light brown sugar.

Stir with a wooden spoon, then add a teaspoon of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Sounds odd doesn't it?  Lemon juice in butterscotch? This is to prevent sugar crystals from forming.  No one likes a gritty butterscotch.

Crank up the heat to medium and stir every now and again until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot and syrupy....Turn off the heat and add 1 1/2 cups of cream.  This is where things get good........the cream will sputter and bubble up.......like a science experiment gone awry.......Now whisk the cream and sugar into smooth submission.

Return the butterscotch to medium heat.  At this point I place the lid on the pot for a few minutes to wash down any unmelted sugar from the side of the pot. 

Remove the lid and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes....but whatever you do....do not stir.

The butterscotch will look more like a sauce than something that will cling to an apple....but it will thicken as it cools.  Transfer the butterscotch to a bowl. 

After 10 minutes, add a few teaspoons of vanilla.  Let the butterscotch stand for another 10- 20 minutes or until it looks like this dreamy concoction....

Time for some apple dipping.

Place the dipped apples on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. They are delicious as is.....or you can sprinkle the apples with toffee pieces or toasted pecans.....I sprinkled one lone apple with sea salt.  It was divine. 

The remaining 9 apples were devoured by the gaggle of neighborhood children led to my kitchen by the pied piper of after-school snacks...my son...the little one with the big voice.  

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