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Butternut Squash, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Ravioli


Roasted Butternut Squash, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Agnolotti al Plin

Jacqueline Plant
The butternut squash can be cooked days ahead and kept refrigerated, making this filling quick to assemble while your rolled pasta dough is resting.

Ingredients
  

FILLING

  • 4 cups diced butternut squash
  • 1 small shallot minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped walnuts
  • ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese such as Bayley Hazen Blue

TOPPING

  • 2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions
 

FOR DOUGH

FOR FILLING

  • Heat the oven to 400°F. On a baking sheet toss together the squash, shallot, oil, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined. Roast the squash mixture for 20 minutes. Stir the squash, clearing a corner of the baking sheet for the walnuts. Spread the walnuts on the sheet. Continue roasting until the squash is tender and the walnuts are toasted, about 10 minutes. Transfer the squash mixture to a medium bowl, and mash well. Let cool. Stir in the walnuts and blue cheese; mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until completely cooled.

TO ASSEMBLE

  • Place one of the 30-inch-long dough sheets on the work surface; drop rounded tablespoons of filling down the center length of the sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Very lightly brush another long sheet of dough with water, then place it on top of the bottom sheet (moistened side down), lining up the edges of the top and bottom. Press the top layer of dough to the bottom firmly, squeezing out any air pockets.
  • Cut between the mounds of filling to make 2½-inch squares; fold an edge of each square over filling to meet the other edge. Make small folds (“al plin”) on each side to create pillow-shaped agnolotti. Pinch the edges of each agnolotti to seal. Repeat with remaining sheets of dough. Save scraps of dough, keeping them covered; reroll into sheets, if necessary.
  • Cook agnolotti immediately (or refrigerate up to 4 hours). Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart saucepot over high heat. Slip the agnolotti into the water a few at a time, stirring gently. Cook until pasta rises to the surface and the edges are tender but still firm, about 6 minutes after water returns to a boil. Remove agnolotti from water using a slotted spoon, and drain well. Lightly drizzle butter over warm agnolotti, and serve.

Jacqueline Plant

Jackie Plant freelances as a recipe developer and editor/food writer for magazines and websites such as Weight Watchers, Family Circle and Culture magazines, while contributing to the development of cookbooks. She has spent much of the past 20 years developing recipes and writing about food for national magazines, such as Parents, Country Living and Woman’s Day Magazine.

Photographer Mark Ferri

Mark Ferri is a graduate of Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif. He believes in a simple, direct approach that captures the natural beauty and appetite appeal of food. Mark celebrates a life-long passion for food by frequently exploring new restaurants in New York and in Europe, and loves to cook and entertain at his home in the Hudson Valley. Learn more about Mark on his website: http://www.markferriphoto.com/

Stylist Leslie Orlandini

Leslie Orlandini is a chef and an accomplished food stylist in print and television. She has been nominated for both James Beard and Emmy awards and is a veteran of thousands of cooking shows and segments. You can learn more about her through her website: http://leslieorlandini.com/

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