Can You Help Me Recreate This Pumpkin Sage Ravioli? Good Questions

Q: This past fall I dined at Osteria Via Stato in Chicago. That night, there was a seasonal special on their board: Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter sauce.

That "special" ravioli was the most fantastic meal I have had in as long as I can remember. I wasn't enamored of the idea of Pumpkin Ravioli, because I couldn't see liking pumpkin in ravioli, but it was exquisite. The crisped sage and brown butter sauce lent a subtle, nutty crispness to the dish.

Do you know how I can possibly find this amazing recipe, or one very similar to it? I have turned up many recipes for pumpkin ravioli, but none whose ingredients seem to truly capture the essence of the insanely delicious meal I had that night.

Sent by Cat

Editor: Cat, wow! That sounds mouthwatering. We think that the brown butter was probably very key to the flavor, so make sure any recipes you try have that element. (We talk about how to brown butter here.)

We also think that this recipe is one that probably looks deceptively simple on paper. There's probably no secret ingredient; it probably is all in the methods you apply. We would roast the pumpkin for the ravioli, instead of using canned pumpkin, for instance. The restaurant also probably used homemade pasta sheets and made the ravioli by hand.

If you want to just try building the flavors, use purchased pumpkin ravioli and play around with the sauce instructions in this recipe until you get to the flavor you want:

• Recipe: Pasta with Brown Butter and Fried Sage

Readers, do you have good tips or recipes for Cat in her quest to recreate this dish?

Next question?

(Image: Martha Stewart)

Comments (12)

This is one of my favorite fall meals, and while you can go all the way from scratch, this is actually one of those meals you really can't screw up. I purchase pumpkin ravioli (it's available at specialty shops and even Fresh Direct often has a frozen variety), make myself some brown butter, and have even sprinkled in dried, rubbed sage when I found myself with the ravioli and the butter but no fresh herbs in the house. It's always good. This has become our traditional Halloween dinner.

I've made this dish a lot, and the best recipe I've found for the filling comes from Emeril (here, though his is squash, essentially the same as pumpkin). The key is the heavy cream and the shallots... so good.

If you plan to make your own ravioli, a good way to save some time is to use round wonton wrappers. As long as you don't overstuff them, the wrappers do a fine job!

There is a nice recipe for pumpkin capellacci with sage butter in Celebrating Italy by Carol Field. I make it a lot. You can easily make ravioli instead of the capellacci - they're a bit easier.

This is my favorite ravioli, and I ate it for the first time in Bologna, Italy. They use crushed amaretti cookies and Mostarda di Cremona, a spicy fruit compote usually served on top of meat dishes. Those two ingredients make a lot of difference, turning a blend pumpkin filling in something memorable. When I make pumpkin ravioli at home I usually skip the Mostarda, just adding a lot of pepper instead, but the amaretti cookies are crucial.

The Babbo recipe, which is available online (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/pumpkin-lune-with-butter-and-sage-recipe/index.html), is really good. Just sub in a good storebought amaretti cookie rather than making your own.

Weird, I had that exact same dish this summer....in Italy. I've come sorta but not entirely close to recreating it by using this recipe from serious eats:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/eat-for-eight-bucks-pasta-with-brown-butter-a.html

but using whole wheat spaghetti and tossing in cubes of butternut squash that I had roasted in the oven for 25 minutes.

Not even pumpkin or ravioli, I know, but the same flavor profile, in a way that I can easily do in my kitchen.

Ahh, one of my favorite dishes! And, like @anaelisa, I highly recommend the crumbled amaretti.

Thank you so much for featuring my question! And thank you, and all the commenters, for such great suggestions. I now feel much better prepared to tackle this awesome dish! :)

Freshly grated nutmeg too. I had a similar dish in Italy (Modena in fact, so not far from anaelisa in Bologna!), and I've been meaning to figure out a recreation since...

I've done it with wonton wrappers, canned pumpkin (mixed up with minced and cooked shallots, thyme, salt & pepper) and a brown butter/sage sauce. Making your own raviolis is the most time consuming part, but it's totally worth it.

I ate one of the best meals of my life when my friends and I made homemade winter squash ravioli with brown butter and sage sprinkled with chopped pecans. Better than most things I've eaten in a restaurant. The recipe is in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. You really can't go wrong with that book.