Melissa I
Strong

11/24/2011

Thanksgiving Dinner Deconstructed, aka Ravioli Recipe
 
Sitting at home in Estes Park, planning our escape to Hueco Tanks, I remembered that a turkey would not fit in our camper’s oven.  This was the first year we would be there for Thanksgiving, so I guess I had never thought of it before.  We hadn’t seen some of our greatest friends in a while, and I was looking forward to being reunited with them over a yummy dinner that I was happy to cook.  I am not sure where the idea came from, but suddenly, the answer was ravioli, Thanksgiving ravioli!!  So I cooked a turkey with stuffing, pureed butternut squash, and mashed sweet potatoes.
The plan was to stuff all of this into ravioli.
Some were turkey and stuffing, some were just squash or sweet potatoes, and others were squash and turkey or potatoes and turkey. I added chopped pecans to some of the squash and potato ravioli. I made and froze 127 ravioli.
I took them out of the freezer on Thanksgiving morning and sautéed shallots, olive oil, fresh sage, and pecans.  I smothered the ravioli with this mixture, covered them and left them out to thaw while we went climbing.
The night before Thanksgiving, I chopped, boiled, and pureed more butternut squash to make a sage squash sauce that went on top of the ravioli.  I also made turkey gravy that could top the ravioli; at first, I thought it might be too much, but it was delicious as well.
 
Ravioli
3 cups of flour
½ tsp. of salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup of water
 
Mix the flour and salt. Make a hill with the flower and hollow out the center.  Crack two eggs into the center and beat eggs into the flour, attempting to maintain the hill.  Add oil and water, and knead the dough into a ball (Adding more water or flour if needed).  Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 min.  Cut in half and start rolling through a pasta maker.  (When I bought my pasta maker, I thought I was going to get something similar to a bread maker--a machine that I plugged in, put the ingredients into, and 20 minutes later--pasta!  It does not work that way.  A pasta maker basically just rolls the dough out to a certain thickness as you crank.  It is a great tool, and being a part of the process feels better.  One ravioli hint--don’t roll too thin!)  I usually run the pasta dough through settings one and two twice, then once through settings three through six, making it 1/6 of an inch thick.  Make sure you have a clean-floured surface to place the dough on.
Once you have a long sheet there are several options you have, I prefer placing the stuffing slightly off center of the strip and folding the strip in half cutting and sealing the edges.  You can stuff your ravioli with almost whatever you choose.
If you choose to boil the ravioli use a large saucepan filled ¾ of the way with water, bring to a boil and add ten ravioli at a time.  If the integrity of the ravioli is in question, you will see them disintegrated while boiling.
If baking, place either sauce or olive oil on the bottom layer of the baking pan and layer the ravioli with the sauce or olive oil.  Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.
These Thanksgiving ravioli were topped with sautéed shallots, olive oil, fresh sage, and pecans.  I smothered the ravioli with this mixture and baked them at 350 for 30 minutes.  If you want them crispy you can put them under the broiler for a few minutes.
After baking, I served them with butternut squash sauce.
 
 
Butternut Squash Sage Sauce
3 butternut squash cubed
6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
2 leeks sliced and cleaned
10 fresh sage leaves
1 tbsp. thyme
salt and pepper
 
Saute onion in butter. Add broth, leaks, and quartered squash. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Strain ingredients and puree in a food processor. Put processed mix back into broth. Add sage leaves and thyme, bring to a boil, and simmer. Add salt and pepper as desired.