Pumpkin Ravioli Surprise

1. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two to soften. Add the pepper and nutmeg and stir to incorporate. Add the wine and bring it to a simmer. Once the wine has reduced by about half, or a little more, remove it from the heat and let it cool.

2. In a food processor, finely grind the pistachios. Add the pumpkin puree, Parmesan cheese, and the cooked shallot mixture. Process until the mixture is smooth. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Add a little lemon juice if it needs some brightness. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag (or pastry bag if you want to be fancy), and cut the corner so you can pipe it.

3. Roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets. I don’t have a roller, so I did it by hand. You’ll need about a 4-inch square to work with. Pipe the filling in a circle, leaving about an inch-wide circle of open space in the middle (about the size of your egg yolk). I didn’t measure, but I’d say it was about 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Basically, you want about ½ inch of thickness and ½ inch of height for the filling, or about level with the yolk. Carefully place an egg yolk in the middle of the filling. Place a sheet of dough on top and gently press around the filling, sealing it as tightly as possible. Then press a little firmer to make sure the dough it good and sealed. Cut out the ravioli with a glass, a biscuit cutter, or just a knife. I opted for about ¼ – ½ inch between the edge and the filling. Repeat this for as many ravioli as you want to make.

4. In a pot of gently simmering water, add the ravioli. Make sure the water doesn’t boil too hard, or the raviolis could fall apart, and make sure it’s not set too low or once you add them, it’ll take too long to come back to a boil. Boil the ravioli for 4-5 minutes, depending on how runny you like your yolks.

5. Remove the ravioli from the water, and add them to whatever sauce floats your boat. I did a simple olive oil drizzle (with good olive oil), since the yolks are essentially all the sauce you need, but I’m sure tossing them with some browned butter and sage would be divine, too.