Butternut Squash Ravioli

How's this for meeting a New Years resolution? I invited a few friends over (Teddy and Cara) for New Years Eve dinner before going out and wanted to make something worthy of serving on the gorgeous china we got as a wedding present. Why not tackle two goals and also make some ravioli?! Since Teddy is a vegetarian, butternut squash ravioli seemed like the best way to go.

I started with my basic pasta dough recipe from my homemade pasta experiment last year, but made 2.5x the original recipe since I was feeding five. I don't know about you, but I hate ordering ravioli out at dinner to only be served 4 raviolis and leave feeling hungry, so I wanted to make sure we had plenty. Luckily I had Luke there to help me since it was quite a lengthy process! Lots of fun though, so no complaining here :)

For the filling and sauce, I used this recipe for Butternut Squash, Sage, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce and topped it off with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and chopped fresh sage. I will say that I had WAY too much filling left and am still trying to brainstorm what to do with the remainder...

Note the lovely china :) Also, thanks Cara for sharing your photo!

This was a delicious combination, though I'll need some practice stuffing ravioli since some didn't get a whole lot of filling. Also, I think next time I'd run the pasta through the pasta maker a few more times to make it a bit thinner. Overall though, delightful!

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the salad I served, but it really complemented the ravioli and I wanted to share:

Pear Salad with Hazelnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

6 ounces baby spinach leaves

4 ounces escarole (or any lettuce you prefer)

1 large or 2 small pears, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

2 ounces shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a medium skillet on medium heat and warm olive oil. Add red onion and saute a few minutes, then turn heat down and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. I let these go about 35 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine spinach, escarole, pears, hazelnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano. Now toss in the caramelized onions, making sure the balsamic/olive oil mixture coats the salad. Add additional olive oil as needed. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss, then serve.