Butternut Squash and Carmalized Onion Ravioli with Lemon Butter!

Yummy! I mean YUUUUUUMMMMMMYYY!!! This was one of those "made-up" recipes that actually worked the first time! Thank goodness, because I was excited for some butternut squash ravioli! I will be usin' that fillin' again! (Check out my Butternut Squash Lasagna, I used the same filling, but also added cooked sausage *grin*)

Recipe:
Makes 4-6 Servings (I didn't use all the dough, I used 3/4 of the dough, so my dish fed 4, but if you made the whole batch, you could easily feed 6)

Dough:
I used Tyler Florence's Recipe from FoodNetwork.com. Follow the instructions given on the website and you'll get a fabulous, very versatile pasta dough! (I didn't have a pasta machine, I used a rolling pin and stretched it by hand. If using only a rolling pin, take it a lot thinner than you think it needs to go. Less than 1/8" thick, closer to 1/16")

Filling:
3 cups Butternut Squash, diced (which is about 1 1/2 lbs. It was half of my squash, so my other half is getting turned into soup this week :)
2 cups Beef Broth (Chicken or Veggie broth should work too, I just wanted the depth that comes with Beef), and if you are using canned broth, it's 1 can.
1 cup water
1 medium Yellow Onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tbs Butter plus 2 tbs for the lemon butter ending
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (I improvised, if I would have had Ricotta, I would have used it, but the C.C. works as a great alternative!)
1/2 cup-3/4 cup total of Italian Cheeses (Mozzarella, Romano, and Parmesan)
1/4 tsp ground Garlic
1/8 tsp ground/grated Nutmeg
1 tbs Brown Sugar (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Zest of 1 Lemon


Directions:
Cover the diced squash in the broth and water and cook in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat until the squash is tender, about 10 minutes (this is a good time to start carmalizin' your onions). Drain the squash (reserve the liquid and make some tasty butternut squash soup with it!) and use a food processor, blender, or hand masher to "puree" the squash.

I want to warn ya now, carmalizing onions takes some time. Once you have your onion halved and THINLY sliced, you'll want to melt the 2 tbs butter in a medium sauce pan (try to use a heavier pan, it retains the heat better) on medium high heat. Place the onions in the pan, with a little salt (about 1/4 tsp), stir them around so they are well coated in the butter. Cook on medium high heat until you can start to smell the onion cooking. This takes 1-2 minutes. Once you can smell the onion, turn the heat to medium low, then  DO NOT STIR the onions! Let them brown and release their sugars, hence the name carmalized onion. This should take about 15 minutes, give or take a few depending on your pan and your stove.

Once the onions are done, chop them up to a small dice and place them in the pureed squash along with your cottage cheese, Italian cheeses, garlic, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Taste it. If it isn't to your sweetness liking, add the 1tbs brown sugar here. Now your filling is complete. Fill your dough and there you have it!

Cook them in a slow boiling pot of water for about 4 minutes. While they are cooking, in the pan you carmalized your onions in. Melt the additional 2 tbs of butter and add the lemon zest to it. When you are pulling the ravioli out of the water, place them in the lemon butter and coat them before plating.

I hope you enjoy!

Recipe of the Week - Vegetarian Curry Pasta

This is the first recipe that I made up all by my lonesome to hit the internet. It is my... drum roll please...

Vegetarian Curry Pasta Salad!
and can I say YUM! Serves 2-3 as the main course, may go further if used as a side dish. Can be eaten warm or cold.

You'll need:
1/2 box whole wheat spaghetti (break noodles in half before cooking)

1garlic clove or 1 tsp diced garlic
1 small green or red pepper, 1/2" dice
1 medium "meaty" tomato or 2 Roma, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 cup pre cooked butternut squash, 1/2" dice
1/4 cup corn (fresh or frozen that has been thawed)
2tsp yellow curry powder
1pinch ground corriander (optional)
1 tbs orange marmalade (prefer using mandarin orange marmalade, but regular will work too)
3 tbs butter
1tbs olive oil
salt to taste

Pasta: Start a pot of water with a pinch of salt on the stove (at least 2 qts) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, place spaghetti noodles and cook until just past al dente, about 10min). Drain and set aside. You can time this so you will be able to add the noodles directly to your curried vegetables when they are done too, just wait to put noodles in the water until your veggies have all been prepped.

Curried Vegetable: On med/hi heat, place oil and 1 tbs butter in a large sauce pan, add garlic, celery, and green pepper. Once they start to soften, add corn, tomato, squash, curry powder, corriander, marmalade, and salt to taste. (if using unsalted butter, make sure to taste before adding noodles) Once the tomato is starting to soften and the marmalade has completely melted into the veggies, turn off the heat, and pour the cooked spaghetti in the pan. Put in the remaining 2tbs of butter and stir until melted and noodles are well coated in curried vegetable goodness!

I hope you like it! I have no doubt other veggies would taste great too, broccoli and cauliflower, yum!