butternut squash x2

I had a butternut squash weekend, folks. Some friends and I got together to try our hands (8 of 'em) at homemade pasta dough. We ended up making butternut squash ravioli, and tagliatelle (or what I'm choosing to call tagliatelle).

Although we used Tyler Florence's ravioli dough recipe, the filling recipe was all mine. And as such, there was way too much of it. So I turned the leftovers into a soup. The two recipes are below.

Ravioli filling

Ingredients

1 (2 lb) butternut squash
1 (16 oz) tub of low fat ricotta cheese
1 tbs butter
olive oil for drizzling
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 400*.

Cut the squash in half, length-wise. Scoop out the seeds and seed accoutrement. Place the halves, cut side up, in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 1 hour.

After an hour, take it out and uncover it. Jab a fork into it, and if you meet no resistance, the squash is done. Let it cool down a little bit - maybe 5 minutes.

Using a spoon, scoop the squash out of its skin, putting the flesh into a large bowl. Stir it up with a spoon or whisk to give it a smooth and consistent texture.

Add the butter, stirring until it melts in. Then add the ricotta cheese, stirring until combined. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. Use this filling for the ravioli, about 1 teaspoon of filling for each pocket of pasta. We served the pasta with a marinara sauce and a vodka sauce - but frankly, these little gems would be great with just a little extra butter and some Parmesan cheese.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients
About half the filling from above (about 1.5 to 2 cups)
Chicken broth (about 2 cups) - you can use vegetable
1 tsp cinnamon
1 carrot, diced
half an onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
olive oil
salt

Over medium heat, saute your mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots) in olive oil in a saucepan until softened. Add the squash and ricotta mixture and 1 cup of chicken broth. Stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour part of the soup into a food processor or blender (don't overfill, as hot liquid will expand - and if you use a blender, take out the little knob in the top to let the hot air out). Blend until smooth, then pour into a bowl. Blend the rest until smooth.

Pour all of it back into the saucepan. Over low heat, add as much of the remaining chicken broth as you want to get the texture you prefer. Then add the cinnamon. Add salt to taste. Feel free to let this simmer for a while, if you like. I served it immediately, and it was heavenly.

I'm thinking of serving this soup (or a variation) at my Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe without the cheese...but then, I do love cheese. Enjoy!