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Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans - everything is made from scratch! Great recipe during the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) with lots of seasonal ingredients: pumpkin, pecans, nutmeg.
Pumpkin ravioli was the first recipe idea that came to my mind after I found an unopened can of organic pumpkin sitting in my pantry, leftover, forgotten and unused from this past Thanksgiving / Christmas season. I've already posted two ravioli recipes on this site, and both of them involved cheese and greens. I thought it would be a nice departure to make ravioli without any cheese in the filling - somewhat different from the norm. The use of the brown butter and toasted pecans as a ravioli sauce is also not as common as the white cream sauce or the red tomato based sauce that usually accompany ravioli.
To make ravioli filling, I just used organic pumpkin puree straight from the can, with only a couple of spices added, and the filling was more runny than what I was used to. I used my ravioli mold again and was pleasantly surprised how well the mold worked (once again!) even with a more watery and runny ravioli filling, such as pumpkin puree. Thanks to the mold, I was able to make perfect shapes, and none of ravioli burst or opened up during boiling/cooking. It's key, though, not to overfill the holes in the ravioli mold with too much pumpkin filling - put just enough filling so that it's at the same level as the top of the mold.
Brown butter with balsamic vinegar and a small amount of brown sugar not surprisingly turned out to be an amazing sauce for ravioli filled with pumpkin-nutmeg-brown-sugar filling, and toasted pecans scattered on top made this dish absolutely perfect. I beg you - please make this! It's so good! I've had these ravioli as a stand-alone dinner entry, I've also had it with seared salmon, which was an amazing combination.
Now, if I only knew what to do with the 2nd unopened can of organic pumpkin still in my pantry....
How to make Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans
Below are step-by-step photos illustrating some steps in making this pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce from scratch. For the complete recipe, scroll down below the photos.
If you're more of a visual person and would like photos that walk you through on how to use this ravioli mold, I have 2 more very good homemade ravioli recipes with lots of step-by-step photos on how to use ravioli mold:
Ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling, in tomato cream sauce
Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans
Ingredients
Ingredients for ravioli dough from scratch (makes 12 ravioli using mold, double this amount if you want to make 24 ravioli)
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup hot water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for pumpkin ravioli filling (makes 24 ravioli):
- 8 oz pumpkin mashed, canned, organic
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- salt and pepper
Ingredients for brown butter sauce:
- 4 oz butter
- 2 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup pecans , toasted, chopped
Instructions
How to make ravioli dough:
- Mix flour with salt.
- Stir water with egg until well mixed.
- In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. It should not be too dry, either. Make the dough into a ball or disk, wrap with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work.
- This recipe uses ravioli mold to make ravioli (you'll see the pic of the mold if you scroll above). This amount of dough is enough to make dough for 12 raviolis, using the mold (ravioli mold makes 12 ravioli). If you need to make 24 ravioli, make a second batch of this dough.
How to make pumpkin ravioli filling and assemble:
- If your pumpkin puree or mashed pumpkin is too watery, drain the pumpkin using a paper towel and a mesh strainer to get rid of any unnecessary liquid.
- Mix pumpkin puree with brown sugar and nutmeg. Season filling with salt and pepper.
- Unwrap a batch of ravioli dough from plastic, divide in 2 equal parts. Flour working area. Roll out each part of pasta dough very thinly, on a floured surface, using a roller. Make sure to flour the upper portion of pasta dough and the roller to avoid sticking. Lift the rolled dough several times during rolling to make sure it doesn’t stick to the counter, and flour working surface with more flour, if necessary.
- Flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place first layer of dough on the ravioli mold, so that it covers all 12 holes.
- Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place second layer of pasta dough on top of filled ravioli.
- Using a roller pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all air from ravioli, which is very important for ravioli success. By now you should have extra dough hanging off the outside 4 edges of ravioli mold – carefully separate it. Continue rolling the pin along the inside edges of 12 raviolis to separate them from one another: you could also use your fingers to press across the edges to separate ravioli.
- Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside – to be used with sauce below.
- Or, alternatively, if you’re not using ravioli right away, place them on a plate or baking sheet in the freezer to freeze. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.
How to make brown butter sauce:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Toast pecans for 10 minutes until slightly browned, let them cool off and then chop them finely.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until butter just begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Do not overcook or butter will burn. Remove from heat. Mix in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Add ravioli to the hot butter sauce, spoon sauce over to coat ravioli. Transfer to plates. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Want Thanksgiving recipe inspiration?
Check out this delicious Thanksgiving Side Dish - Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecans, and Cranberries
Absolutely fabulous directions. Really appreciate the separation of directions for each item. Made it so much more feasible to make with the little ones constantly interrupting me. Very easy to get back to where I was. (It's the little things that help, right?) Great pics, too. Plus it was delicious. Thanks.
Luna, I am glad you liked the recipe and the directions. Ravioli is such a great food and so worth time spent on making them (and it actually doesn't even take that much time). I am glad you were able to make these even with little ones running around the kitchen. 🙂
I made this last night for a pumpkin-themed party and it was a huge hit!
Glad to hear that!
Is it possible to make the ravioli using won ton wrappers? I am sure the homemade pasta would be much better.
I am sure it's possible as I've seen it done on the internet. But it would be a whole different method that I haven't tried yet.
Holy Smokes these look incredible, I've never seen this recipe and think it' a wonderful idea. Browned butter with pecans over these wonderful pumpkin ravioli. I've just recently out of no where started enjoying pumpkin and sweet potatoes so this is a must try. Thanks!
Do you think it would be possible to make the dough with sorghum flour? My daughter is allergic to flour, and rice flour, as well as gluten. I'm trying to find some recipes for her, and this looks incredible. Please advise.
Roma, check out this gluten free recipe with millet flour - it does have some rice flour, though : http://www.tarteletteblog.com/2010/11/recipe-gluten-free-braised-lamb-ravioli.html
Thank you so much, finally a sauce recipe to go with my pumpkin ravioli that isn't a cream sauce!
I can't wait to try it
Teresa, this is an amazing recipe, if I may say so myself. 🙂 Everything in this recipe goes so well together! Including the sauce! And I agree with you - I was looking for a recipe that used something different than cream-based sauce. Just be careful not to burn the butter. Browning the butter is actually a very popular cooking technique lately (used even in making cookies), it's very easy to do but could be tricky the first time, so be careful not to over do it. 🙂
Those look perfect - like a beautiful restaurant dish! I would love to give this recipe a try. I've also always wanted to make my own pasta.
This looks delicious, I've never made ravioli myslef before even though it's a family favourite. Looking forward to giving it a try and maybe getting the kids involved making the pasta.