My kitchen is exploding with squash. My pantry is full of all  types—acorn, winter, pumpkin, spaghetti, and butternut. We’ve been working for weeks to get rid of them through various recipes, but they just won’t disappear. I’ve made butternut squash soup (several different ways), roasted squash, mashed squash, squash in stews, and even squash pie for Thanksgiving.

Instead of giving up on my squash problem, I promised myself I would venture one step further in my squash cooking expedition. This week, as part of the newly-founded skill share collective, we cooked homemade butternut squash ravioli. The recipe seems pretty involved, but with a few friends it only takes about two hours, and it’s definitely worth it! While it didn’t use quite as much squash as I had hoped, it was a fun process, and fresh pasta is always a crowd-pleaser.

Making the Pasta

This recipe was found in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It is a common pasta recipe. I would suggest doubling it because it doesn’t make that much dough.

Ingredients list:

– 2/3 cup flour

– 1 egg

– 1.5 tsp salt

– 1 tbs water

1. This recipe was found in the Joy of Cookingcookbook. It is a common pasta recipe. I would suggest doubling it because it doesn’t make that much dough.Pour the flour on to the cutting board and form it into a mound. Form a wide crater in the top of the mound.

   Crack the egg into the crater. Add the water and salt and make sure the liquid doesn’t flow over the walls. Beat the egg in the crater and slowly use your hands to incorporate the egg and water into the flour until it forms a ball.

   Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, making sure the flour is not too sticky. The dough should be pliable. Make sure not to over-knead the dough! Otherwise it will be really difficult to role out later. I made this mistake and it made things a bit trickier.

   Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.

   Note 1: If you want to make green pasta, follow these extra steps:

   Steam some spinach until it has compressed and then pat it dry and chop it up into small pieces. Use about  two tablespoons per batch. Incorporate in the dough after you have worked in the egg and water. This dough will be a bit wetter but it has a great texture and look.

   Note 2: If you are vegan but still want to make ravioli, Weshop sells wonton wrappers, which can easily be made into ravioli.

Making the Filling

– 1 butternut squash

– 2 tsp. dried sage

– goat cheese

– walnuts

-garlic

– red chili flakes

We made two different types of filling, but the possibilities are seemingly endless in terms of how to stuff your ravioli. Feel free to experiment with spices and seasonings.

Cut a butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake it at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce it.

Let the squash cool and then scoop it out of the skin. Mash it up with your fork and add different flavors.

The sage and walnut filling: Melt two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and crush up a few leaves of dried sage. Add a handful of chopped walnuts and sauté all together on low. Add one and a half cups of mashed squash and mix together. Salt and pepper. Add three tablespoons goat cheese to the mixture and mix well. Remove from heat.

The spicy squash filling: Sauté 2-3 diced cloves of garlic with olive oil. Add one and a half cups of mashed squash. Sprinkle with red chili flakes for your preference of spiciness, and enhance with chili powder if you want.

Assembling the Ravioli

Roll out the pasta dough on a floured surface into a long rectangle. It should be fairly thin, about the thickness of a nickel. This may take some time, especially if your dough is tough, but be patient. If it isn’t rolled out enough, the ravioli will be really chewy.

Put small spoonfuls of filling on the dough about two inches apart. Then cut the dough into rectangles so half of the dough can fold over the filling to form the ravioli.

Make an egg wash (crack an egg in a bowl and whisk it) and use your finger to spread the egg wash around the edges so the pasta will seal together. Press down firmly on all sides of the ravioli so it doesn’t open at all.

You can form ravioli in a variety of shapes. Try experimenting by making triangle ravioli or cut out circles with the top of a cup and then fold it over to make half-moons. Or if you have cookie cutters, you could make all sorts of shapes.

If you don’t want to eat them right away, put them in a bag and leave them in your freezer until you are ready. But I’m pretty sure you will want to sample all of your hard work. So boil up some water and then throw the ravioli in for a few minutes until they are tender. Fresh pasta is pretty quick to cook, so it won’t take long.

If you are especially excited, sauté the ravioli for a minute or two after they have boiled to give them a crispy flavor. You could cook them with some spinach or more walnuts and sage.

Enjoy!