BUTTERNUT SQUASH AGNOLOTTI RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Toss squash, shallot, garlic, oil, thyme, red pepper flakes (if using), and 4 sage leaves on a rimmed baking sheet until coated. Season with salt and pepper; cover loosely with foil. Bake until squash and shallot are very soft, 35–45 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Toast walnuts on baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown and fragrant, 8–10 minutes. Let cool and finely chop; set aside.
• Peel shallot and garlic and discard herbs. Purée squash, shallot, garlic, Parmesan, marscapone, and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth. Scrape into pastry bag fitted with ¼" tip (or use a large resealable plastic bag and cut a small opening in 1 corner).
• Set pasta maker to thickest setting; dust lightly with cornmeal. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining dough wrapped in plastic as you work, flatten dough into a narrow rectangle (no wider than mouth of machine); pass through rollers. Fold dough as needed to fit and roll again. Repeat without folding, adjusting machine to thinner settings after every pass and dusting with cornmeal if sticky, until pasta is 1/16" thick (setting 8 on most machines). (Alternatively, you can roll out sheets lengthwise with a rolling pin until 1/16" thick.)
• Lightly dust work surface with cornmeal. Working with 1 length at a time and keeping remaining dough wrapped in plastic as you work, arrange so long side is facing you. Starting 1" from short edge and 2" from long edge closest to you, pipe teaspoon-sized mounds of squash mixture down the length, spacing ¾" apart. Lightly brush water around each mound. Fold the long side closest to you over filling, extending at least 1" past filling, and press down length to seal. Using index fingers and thumbs on both hands, pinch dough on either side of filling, sealing dough and creating “pillow” shapes.
• Using pasta cutter or pizza cutter, trim long side of dough farthest from you about ½" from mounds, then trim short ends to create tidy edges all around. Discard trimmings. Cut between each mound of filling, making individual pasta. Transfer angolotti to a cornmeal-dusted sheet tray. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Heat butter in a medium skillet over medium, swirling pan often, until butter foams, then browns, 4–6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 16 sage leaves.
• Meanwhile, cook angolotti in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until tender but slightly undercooked, 2 minutes. Drain, then add to skillet with brown butter along with ½ cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook over medium-high heat, tossing to coat, until most of the liquid has evaporated and sauce has thickened, 2–3 minutes. Season with salt if needed. Serve topped with grated Parmesan and reserved walnuts.
• Do Ahead: Angolotti can be made 3 months ahead. Freeze on sheet tray, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag and keep frozen.

Steps:

• Agnolotti, ravioli, tortellini….it’s all so good.  Stuffed pastas allow you to really show your creativity and personality. In addition to controlling the flavor of the stuffing, you can play with the ratio of pasta to stuffing, and the sauce.  Yes, it does take a bit of work, but I think it’s worth it.  Especially if you make several servings at once and freeze the extra – then you can take it out whenever you want. Agnolotti, are really just ravioli that are folded to create the pocket, as opposed to using two pieces of pasta with the stuffing sandwiched between.  This recipe for butternut squash agnolotti is great in the fall as the leaves are changing colors, and it starts getting cold outside.  A great accompaniment is a brown butter sauce seasoned with sage, and then garnished with some toasted almonds. Ingredients for Butternut Squash Agnolotti Pasta sheets Cooked butternut squash – a cup Ricotta cheese (although I used goat cheese in the video – you can use any creamy style cheese) Parmesan cheese – a quarter to a third cup Olive oil – a few tablespoons Butter – a stick Sage – 5 – 7 leaves Recipe Overview & Keys to Success The only complicated part of this recipe is that it requires a few distinct steps that can each be a bit time consuming, but they are not that hard.  The most important of which is making the pasta.  If you don’t want to make your own pasta there are a couple short cuts. Option one, is to find a store that sells fresh pasta sheets.  Many specialty Italian markets will carry pasta sheets, and they make a good alternative to making your own.  Option two, is to buy wonton wrappers at your local grocery store.  While wonton wrappers (or skins) are pretty much available anywhere, I think they make a pretty poor substitute.  The thickness is usually not right, and the texture is a bit chewier than fresh pasta.  But if that’s all you have, you can follow the same process described below.  Butternut Squash Stuffing This stuffing is very simple, and lets the squash shine.  Feel free to doctor it up a bit, if you’d like. Peel the butternut squash, and dice into cubes about 1 inch on each side; you’ll need about a cup to make about 20 Agnolotti. Toss the pieces with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 375 degree over, until very tender Add the squash, ricotta cheese (use about ½ the amount cheese as you have squash), add about 2 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese, and about 2 tablespoons of butter to a food processor and blend until smooth. If needed, add a bit of water or olive oil to loosen the mixture enough to get a smooth creamy texture; and put the blended mixture in a bowl Making the Agnoltti Roll out the pasta into sheets (I like the thickness setting of 4 or 5 on most standard rollers if you’re rolling it yourself), and cut out rounds with a cookie cutter (don’t have a cookie cutter? Use an upside down glass and a knife to cut out the rounds).  I like the rounds to be about 2 – 3 inches in diameter – that size makes them one or maybe two bites each. After you have the rounds cut, put about a tablespoon of filling on each piece of pasta.  You’re going to fold the round in half and encapsulate the filling in the middle – so it’s important not to put too much filling down.  If there’s too much you’ll have a tough time sealing the pasta, but at the same time, you want to make sure there is enough to balance out the pasta.  After filling a few you’ll get a sense of how much filling to put into each. To seal the pasta, dip your finger into some water and moisten one side of the pasta round.  Fold the round in half, keeping the pressure on the outside edges (with little to no pressure on the stuffing itself – otherwise it will squirt out).  Then with your fingers, press the pasta edges together, while working around the half moon shape.  After you have the initial seal, press hard around the edges to cement them together. Dust with flour as you go, to prevent sticking Brown butter and sage sauce Since the pasta is only going to take a few minutes to cook, I like to make this sauce before starting the pasta.  Once I get it to the right color, I just take if off the heat and cook off the pasta. Heat a frying pan over medium heat until hot, and add in your butter.  About 4 tablespoons for 10 – 15 agnolotti should work The butter should immediately start sizzling and foaming up a bit As the water evaporates, the butter will start to turn brown; this is just take 2 – 3 minutes, and then turn the heat to low Add the sage leaves, which will fry up and get nice and crispy in the butter while they release their flavor The butter will slowly get a deeper brown over the next several minutes.  Keep the heat low, and if it looks like it’s turning dark brown, take off the heat, as the butter can burn, which doesn’t taste good.  If it starts to smell, anything like “bad”, the butter’s likely burned and you should probably start over. In a separate pan toast some slivered or shaved almonds, and allow them to cool Cooking the pasta Fresh pasta only takes about a minute to cook, and this is no exception.  Before you start cooking the pasta make sure you have whatever sauce your using ready to go. Bring a pot of water to the boil and season with salt Drop your agnolotti into the water, and give them a gentle stir to prevent sticking Let them cook for about a minute, and turn up the heat on whatever sauce you’re using (I like a brown butter sauce) as you’re going to drop the pasta directly into the hot sauce. Remove the agnolotti from the water, and drop them into your sauce, toss to coat, and turn off the heat.  Add the parmesan cheese and toss again. Season with salt and pepper Spoon the agnolotti and some of the sauce into a pasta bowl, garnish with the slivered almonds, and enjoy!!!