Blue Hokkaido Pumpkin Ravioli

There are some times when I just can’t believe that I actually let myself do something so ridiculous. I had three hours before work and for some reason I decided that I wanted to make pumpkin ravioli for the first time ever. I did already have a very beautiful organic blue hokkaido pumpkin sitting in my fridge, and I did want to use it somehow, but I shouldn’t have attempted making home made ravioli 3 hours before work. Although I’m extremely glad that I did, because although I was almost late for work I had one of the most satisfying meals I’ve had in a while, and found out just how easy (although time consuming) it is to make ravioli. My parents always used to make these as a team for Christmas Eve dinner, my mom would make the pumpkin filling (although she never went so far as to use a blue hokkaido pumpkin), my dad would take care of making the actual ravioli, and together they would cook them. It was really quite inspiring to watch, so it is no wonder that this recipe was one of the first things that came to my mind when I was trying to think of what to do with that pumpkin. Although to be honest, I didn’t ask either of them for this recipe since I didn’t have enough time to, so it’s my version of what I saw. Wow, I’ve rambled for way too long already, I’ll shut up now – but do try this because it is really amazing.

For the pumpkin filling:

Ingredients (makes 25 ravioli)

• ¼ blue hokkaido pumpkin (or any other kind)
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp dried basil
• dash of black pepper
• 50ml vegetable stock
• salt
• olive oil

Preparation (10 minutes + 30 minutes of simmering)

Peel the pumpkin and chop into tiny pieces, the smaller the better. Chop the onion into small pieces and put in a pan with some olive oil, turn on medium heat. Peel the garlic and chop into thirds, and add to the pan after the onion has been cooking for about 5 minutes. Stir everything around, when the onion is starting to turn brown add all of the pumpkin at once and stir. Add the basil, pepper, and salt to taste. After about 5 minutes, turn the heat down all the way and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so at least. After about 30 minutes it should look like a really thick paste; at this point, add the vegetable stock a little at a time until it’s mixed in and the pumpkin is a little more pasty, although it should still be thick enough that it sticks to a spoon if you put the spoon sideways. Once it’s the right thickness, turn it off and set aside.

For the tomato sauce

Ingredients

• 500g cherry tomatoes in tomato juice (like pelati but cherry tomatoes)
• 250g passata
• ½ onion
• handful of fresh basil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• salt

Preparation (15 minutes)

Drizzle some olive oil onto a pan on medium heat. Add the onion, chopped into small pieces, and the cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped into halves. Let them simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes and passata, and turn the heat all the way up. Stir continuously for 7 minutes, then add the basil, some salt, and turn the heat all the way down and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, while you make the pasta.

For the pasta

Ingredients

• 500g flour
• warm water
• 2 tsp salt

Preparation (15 minutes)

Mix the flour and salt together on a large flat (clean) surface. Make a hole in the middle and add a little water. I didn’t measure how much water I used because I did it by sight, but start by adding around 100ml. Mix it all together, knead it into a dough, and continue adding water until it is a very hard but moldable dough. It shouldn’t be the least bit sticky, if it is continue adding flour until it isn’t anymore. Once you finish the dough, use a pasta maker (if you have one) or a rolling pin to flatten it out into long flat rectangles (about 12cm/4.5in wide and whatever length), as thin as possible.

Putting it all together

Take tablespoonfuls of the pumpkin filling and place them lined up along the length of the rectangle, about 2.5cm/1in from one side, and about 2cm/1in apart from each other. Fold the rectangle in half length-wise, so as to cover all of the pumpkin filling balls, and press together all of the sides. Using a knife or pasta cutter, cut the pasta in between the pumpkin filling, so as to create little squares of pasta with pumpkin filling on the inside. Use your hands to press the sides of each square together, and then use a fork to seal together.

Once they’re all done, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Throw in some salt, then add the ravioli. They only take about 3 minutes to cook so make sure you throw them all in at the same time. After 3-4 minutes, take them all out one by one using a sieve spoon, and place onto a tray. To serve, put a couple on a plate and add some sauce on top. Use little sauce as the best part of the pasta is the pumpkin filling and too much tomato sauce will cover up the taste. Enjoy!