Pumpkin Ravioli, also known as Tortelli or Agnolotti, are a typical dish of the Northern Italian regional tradition. An autumnal delicacy with a refined taste, Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli contain a delicate heart, composed of the right mix of flavors perfectly matched to each other.
The best time to make these Tortelli is certainly the Autumn – first Winter, when the pumpkins are abundant and tasty on the markets.
This Ravioli are perfect for Halloween, which has the pumpkin as its symbol, you can amaze your guests with a typical Italian recipe.
If you are curious about other dishes from the culinary tradition of Northern Italy, take a look at these recipes: Risotto alla Milanese, Cotoletta alla Milanese, Apple Strudel, Gnocchi al Gorgonzola!
For making your pumpkin and ricotta ravioli, you must first prepare the dough: place the flour on a work surface, make a hole in the middle. Mix together the 4 eggs and put them in the hole together with salt and warm water, one drop at a time, adjust as you work the dough.
Mix all the ingredients adding the flour a little at a time until you get a smooth dough with a good consistency. If it’s too sticky add more water or, on the contrary, if it is too soft add some flour. Then wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in a bowl for about one hour.
Dedicate yourself in the meantime to the preparation of the ravioli filling: cut the pumpkin into pieces; bake in the oven for about 25 minutes at 180 °, in this way the skin will soften and it will be easier to peel it. So once cooked, peel and mash the pumpkin with a fork until it becomes a cream.
At this point, take a bowl and add to the pumpkin puree, ricotta, an egg, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and taleggio cheese (or another very tasty cream cheese). Mix everything well.
Take the dough and with the help of the rolling pin make thin layers.
To help you in the distribution of the filling, mark slightly vertical and horizontal strips, so as to form a grid. Then take the filling with a spoon or put the dough in the pastry bag, and place it in the squares obtained, forming many equidistant little bunches. Wet the edges of the squares that you have formed with the grid.
Take another layer of pasta and place it on top of the stuffed one. Squeeze the edges of the grid so that they stick well. To be even more sure that the external edges are well sealed, crush them with the tines of a fork.
With the help of a wavy pastry cutter or a knife, cut the ravioli following the squares of the grid. Make sure you seal the edges of each square well.
Boil the water and add salt. Meanwhile in a large pan melt the butter over very low heat and add the sage leaves. Cook the ravioli into the boiling water for a few minutes: as soon as they come to the surface it means they will be cooked. So, take them from the pot with a slotted spoon and place them directly into the pan. Don't be afraid to drain the ravioli even if they are still a bit hard, you can finish cooking in the pan with butter. Also add a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, in this way you will have a very creamy sauce. For an even more gourmet touch, you can also add some grated orange or lemon rind, so your dish will be very fragrant.
Pumpkin Tortelli are born in Mantua, if you want to follow the traditional Mantuan recipe you will have to add to the filling 150 gr of powdered amaretti and 150 gr of pear mustard, a pinch of cinnamon, plus a generous handful of Parmigiano Reggiano.
For the filling, in addition to the typical Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli, you can try many other variations. Pumpkin flesh is well combined with chopped walnuts, speck or sausage, but also with gorgonzola or fontina cheese.
You can freeze the raw ravioli in the freezer, placing them first on a well-spaced tray. Once frozen you can put them in a bag. At the time of cooking drop them directly into boiling salted water and dress them however you like.
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