As a thrifty cook, I really dislike recipes that leave you with a useless remainder of an ingredient.
Why are you telling me to use 1 cup of canned beef broth when it comes in a 12-ounce can? What am I supposed to do with the remaining quarter cup of broth? Recipes like this tell me that the person who drafted the recipe isn’t mindful of kitchen economy, and it makes me distrust both the recipe and its writer.
I also dislike recipes that require complex prep. If you love to make pasta dough, more power to you. But unless that homemade pasta is the point of the recipe, then I usually can’t be bothered. Even working quickly, between mixing the dough and running it through the rollers multiple times to thin it out, I’ll have close to an hour’s prep time in the pasta alone.
I was once served truly exquisite ravioli filled with seasoned ricotta, and each little bit of filling was topped with a fresh sage leave – visible like a fossilized fern through the thin dough. In that case, the pasta was the point. In today’s recipe, however, the filling is the point, not the pasta.
I learned a long time ago that I’m much more likely to make homemade ravioli if I use a secret shortcut: Wonton wrappers substitute perfectly for the pasta required in most conventional recipes. Whether they’re square or round doesn’t really matter – I go for the round wrappers if I can get them, but square ravioli are every bit as good.
In making the ravioli, if you have a ravioli stamp or one of those pastry cutters with the crinkly edge, use it here. If you don’t (or can’t find yours, as is often the case in my kitchen), a fork will crimp those edges for you.
Either way, brushing the edges of the ravioli with a little beaten egg before filling and sealing helps assure that your ravioli won’t leak in the cooking. Even if some do leak a little, it’s not the end of the world. The mistake vanishes when you add the savory pumpkin cream sauce. I can assure you that the happy eaters of these ravioli won’t complain.
Seasonal and simple, a dish of these ravioli is a fairly quick, easy way to get supper on the table. Serve a salad dressed with a lemon-bright vinaigrette before or alongside, and dinner is done. To follow such an uncomplicated entrée, I’d serve a lush dessert if I were entertaining – crème brûlée or panna cotta or a rich flan would help you use up the heavy cream remaining from the sauce.
