The BEST and most unique butternut squash recipe in Italy! This traditional recipe from Mantova, Italy has a few special ingredients that will win you over.
1 sieve or ricer, food processor or immersion blender for making the squash into pulp
1 pasta roller or rolling pin (if you know how to roll pasta by hand)
1 ravioli mould or tools for making square ravioli without one. For instance: fork and pizza cutter or knife.
1 pastry bag optional, but useful for piping on the ravioli filling quickly
Ingredients
Ravioli Filling
2.2lbcooked butternut or buttercup squashuncooked squash should be twice the weight of the amount of cooked squash needed.
6ozamaretti cookiesground into a fine, breadcrumb consistency
6ozmostarda mantovanaSubstitutes? Smooth applesauce or apple jam with powdered mustard to taste; See notes for details!
6ozgrana padano cheesefinely grated
6tbspunsalted buttermelted
1pinchfine saltor to taste
1pinchblack pepperoptional
fine unseasoned breadcrumbsoptional, for making the filling drier
Pasta Dough
5cupspasta flourNOTE: It's better to weigh the pasta flour
6wholeeggs
Condiments
8tbspgrana padano cheeseoptional; grated for the top to taste
6tbspbuttermelted
2leavessageoptional for infusing the melted butter
Instructions
Make the Pasta Dough
Add the pasta flour to a large bowl or in a pile on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center of the flour.
6 whole eggs, 5 cups pasta flour
To the well, add the whole eggs. Beat the eggs into the flour with a fork, pulling flour in from the edges a little at a time.
Continue mixing the eggs with the flour until a shaggy dough forms. You may not need all of the flour.
Press the shaggy dough into a rough ball and begin to knead the dough. Knead the pasta dough until it is smooth and elastic—about 10 minutes. You should be able to press the finished dough with a fingertip and see the dough spring back.
Cover the finished dough and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime...
Roast the Butternut Squash or Buttercup Squash
Roast the butternut or buttercup squash. To roast whole, wet the outside of the squash and make several deep incisions around the squash with a knife to let the steam escape while the squash cooks.
2.2 lb cooked butternut or buttercup squash
Place the squash in a large baking tray. Roast a whole squash in a pre-heated 350°F (180°C) oven for 1 ½ hours. Or...
Cut the squash in half and place them cut-side down in a large baking tray. Roast the halves at 400°F (200°C) for about 50 minutes. Roast until the squash is soft enough to mash with a fork.
Remove the seeds and stringy interior from the center of the squash. If there is excess water from cooking the squash, strain it and discard it.Use a fine sieve or ricer to finely mash the squash pulp. Or, use a food processor or immersion blender. However, a sieve or ricer incorporates more air into the pulp and is the traditional tool used.
Transfer the mashed squash pulp to a large mixing bowl and cool it.
Make the Butternut Squash Ravioli Filling
Crumble the amaretti cookies into a fine breadcrumb consistency. Use your fingers, a rolling pin and a bag or even a food processor or immersion blender for this job.
6 oz amaretti cookies
Finely grate the grana padano cheese, if it isn't already.
6 oz grana padano cheese
To the bowl with the squash add: cooled melted butter, the mostarda, the crumbled amaretti, the finely grated grana padano cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
6 oz mostarda mantovana, 6 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 pinch black pepper, 1 pinch fine salt
Give all of the filling ingredients a good mix. Taste for salt and check the mixture to see if it is dry enough. Add more crumbled amaretti (with equal parts grana padano) or some fine unseasoned breadcrumbs if you need to create a drier mix. Set the mixture aside. We are ready to make our ravioli!If you have one, fill a pastry bag with the butternut squash ravioli filling. It is quicker and easier to pipe the filling when making the ravioli.
fine unseasoned breadcrumbs
Stretch the Pasta Dough
Work with about 100 g of pasta dough at a time. Keep the rest of the dough covered when not using it to keep it from drying out.
On a lightly floured surface: Press the piece of pasta dough into a rough rectangle, using a rolling pin if you need to.
Pass the rectangle through the pasta roller at the widest setting. Fold the dough into a letter, creating a new rectangle that is about ¾ the width of the pasta roller. Pass the pasta again through the roller at the widest setting.
Continue passing the pasta through the roller, reducing the pasta roller width by one setting with each pass. Lightly flour the dough between passes if it seems too sticky.Continue passing the pasta through the roller until the pasta is less than 1 mm thick. This is the smallest setting on most pasta roller machines. The pasta should be translucent enough to see the shadow of your fingers if you hold them behind the dough in front of the light.
Shape the Butternut Squash Ravioli
Prepare a small bowl of water. You will dip your finger in this water in order to better seal the ravioli!
Cut the sheet of pasta in half. Loosely cover the floured ravioli mould with one sheet of the pasta.
Add a heaping mound of ravioli filling to each indent on the ravioli mould. If using a pastry bag to pipe the filling, fit it with a very large tip. Push the tip of the bag into the center of each indent before squeezing the filling into the dip that you've made. This will help to ensure you are filling the entire ravioli with filling and minimize air pockets.
After adding filling to all of the indents, wet the borders around each ravioli with your finger.
Take the second sheet of pasta dough. Starting at one end, use a rolling pin to press down this sheet of pasta across filling. Take care to lift the pasta not yet pressed in order to push out any air as you roll down the sheet of pasta.
Vigorously roll the rolling pin back and forth over the ravioli mould to cut the ravioli on the rough 'teeth.' Remove the excess pasta dough from around the outside of the mould.
Lightly dust the top of the ravioli. Remove the top part of the mould, turn the mould over and give the side a firm tap on the work surface to release the ravioli from the mould.
Check for a Good Seal and Dry the Ravioli
Check each ravioli to see that they are sealed. If you see any air pockets near the filling, use a sewing needle to pierce the pocket of air near the border of the ravioli, then use a finger to push down on the hole you've made—releasing the air and sealing the top and bottom pieces of dough together where the hole was made.
Spread the butternut squash ravioli (mound up) on a parchment paper-covered cutting board or cookie sheet. Or, use a stackable pasta drying rack. Do not overlap the ravioli as they dry.
Dry the ravioli (outside of the refrigerator) for about 2 hours. Then, cook them or...
Transfer the ravioli (flat) into a freezer until frozen. Once the ravioli are frozen, you can toss them into a freezer bag or container without worrying about overlapping them.
Cooking Butternut Squash Ravioli
Bring a large pot of salted water or broth to a boil. Then reduce the boiling water to a simmer.
Add the fresh or frozen ravioli to the simmering water and cook them for 3-4 minutes.
Drain the ravioli and add the condiment...
Condiments for Butternut Squash Ravioli
Melt the butter in a sauce pan. We prefer to use clarified butter. You can also add a few fresh sage leaves to the melted butter in order to infuse it with that flavor.
6 tbsp butter, 2 leaves sage
Pour the melted butter under and over the plated butternut squash ravioli. Top with grated grana padano cheese. Buon appetito!
8 tbsp grana padano cheese
Notes
Buttercup Squash is better than Butternut SquashEither squash can be used for this recipe, but buttercup squash is a bit drier and sweeter. For this reason, it is preferable for this ravioli recipe.Mostarda MantovanaCheck our article for a thorough explanation of what this product is, and for links to products of quality. If you cannot find this product, look for an apple jam (or even smooth apple sauce or purée). The product we used had a baby food consistency. An apple or apple/pear baby food with the additional of ground mustard would be very similar in taste to the product we used.Avoid products with any additional spices like cinnamon. To the jam or sauce, add just enough mustard powder to give the fruit a little kick. Other fruits that can be used for the 'mostarda' traditional in this recipe are quince or pear. We used a quince-based mostarda for our ravioli and it was delicious!