Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter

In this recipe you make your own butternut squash ravioli using fresh pasta sheets and toss them in the simplest brown butter and sage sauce.

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Three large butternut squash ravioli in a skillet with crispy sage leaves..

Semi-Homemade Ravioli

Making ravioli 100% from scratch can be a full day event if you’re making the pasta yourself. If you use store-bought pasta sheets, however, making semi-homemade ravioli is completely do-able without spending the whole day in the kitchen.  Of course, if you want to make your own pasta, don’t let me stand in your way! This butternut squash ravioli with brown butter is easy to make yet so delicious and decadent. You can make the ravioli ahead of time if you like (freeze after making, before boiling) and the brown butter only takes a few minutes, so you could actually pull this dinner off on a busy weeknight too.

Ingredients on a countertop - pasta sheets, shallot, ricotta cheese, sage, parsley, eggs and butternut squash.

Simple Ingredients

In addition to the store-bought pasta sheets, you’ll need some butternut squash, garlic, shallot, ricotta sheet, Parmesan cheese, butter, some herbs and spices and a couple eggs. Though that might sound like a lot as I rhymed off all those needs, these ingredients are very basic and easy to find. 

Butternut squash cubes roasted in a roasting pan with a mini chopper and some other ingredients around it.

Butternut Squash Ravioli Filling

Roast, air fry or sauté the butternut squash until it is soft and crushable. You can stir all the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon, but I like to throw it all into a small chopper and blitz it for a few minutes until it is completely smooth. Season it to taste with salt and pepper.

Squares of fresh pasta on a cutting board with dollops of butternut squash filling on top, next to some completed ravioli.

How to Make Ravioli

Lay out your pasta sheets and spoon the filling in equidistant dollops on one sheet. Brush all around the dollops of filling with egg wash and then lay the second sheet of pasta on top. Press around the filling to seal the two sheets together, but try to press out as much air as possible so that it is just filling inside the pasta pocket.

Cooked ravioli draining on a kitchen towel.

How to Cook Fresh Ravioli

Cook the butternut squash ravioli in a lot of boiling water. Use a big pot with more water than you think you need. The more water you have, the faster the water comes back to a boil when you add the ravioli, and the less chance the ravioli have to stick together. It only takes a few minutes to cook and when the ravioli are all floating on top and the pasta feels al dente, drain the ravioli and place them on a clean kitchen towel.

Butternut squash ravioli on a white plate with knife and fork, a glass and bottle of white wine and some grated parmesan cheese.

How to Serve Ravioli

Make the brown butter sauce in a large skillet – just let the butter brown. First you’ll hear popping and sizzling as the water in the butter evaporates. Then the butter will become very quiet in the pan and the milk solids will start to brown. Watch carefully at this point as the browning can happen exponentially. If you don’t want to see little brown milk solids in your finished dish, strain the brown butter through a fine strainer (I recommend this). Then, heat the ravioli back up in this brown butter and serve with some fried sage leaves. Some toasted pinenuts would be a welcome addition here too. A small side salad and some crusty bread to soak up leftover brown butter is all you need. Oh… and perhaps a nice glass of wine. 

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Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

Nutrition Info Print Recipe
  • Prep Time: 30 m
  • Cook Time: 40 m
  • Total Time: 1 h 10 m
  • Servings:
    4
    makes 12 ravioli

Ingredients

  • 6 cups butternut squash diced
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 eggs divided
  • 1½ tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
  • 1 pound fresh pasta sheets
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup fresh sage leaves
  • Grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425°F.
  2. Spread butternut squash out on baking sheet in one layer. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried sage and thyme.
  3. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking process.
  4. Transfer the roasted butternut squash to a food processor. Add the nutmeg and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and combine with the ricotta cheese, 1 egg and fresh parsley.
  5. Lay a fresh pasta sheet on a cutting board. Dollop 2 tablespoons of the butternut squash mixture in rows about 4 inches apart on the pasta sheet. Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush lines of egg wash in between the rows of filling. Top with another sheet of the pasta and press the dough around each pile of filling. Cut the dough in in between the mounds of filling to form the raviolis. Press the edges shut or use a fork to crimp around the edges of each ravioli to seal it shut. Place the raviolis on a sheet pan sprinkled with some semolina flour or cornmeal so they do not stick together. Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets and filling. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
  6. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add the sage leaves. When you no longer hear the sizzling, the water will have evaporated from the butter and the milk solids will start to brown. Remove the sage leaves when they have darkened and crisped and transfer them to a paper towel to drain. Continue to cook the butter over medium-low heat until the milk solids are very dark, but not black. The butter will have a nutty aroma. Remove the pan from the heat immediately and strain the butter to remove the milk solids. Wipe the pan clean and return the brown butter to the pan.
  7. Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a gentle boil. Cook the ravioli for 3 to 4 minutes. The pasta is done when the raviolis float to the top of the water. Gently remove each ravioli with a spider or a slotted spoon and dab on a clean kitchen towel to remove all the water.
  8. Gently add the ravioli to the butter in the pan and flip over to coat before transferring the ravioli to plates. Top with the fried sage leaves and more brown butter if you have any left over. Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese, if desired and serve immediately.
Enjoy,
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Comments (4)Post a Reply

    1. You can find fresh pasta or lasagna sheets in the refrigerated or frozen pasta section of many grocery stores such as Acme, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Publix, and Sprouts. Depending on where you live, you may be able to find them at those chain grocery stores or any specialty grocery stores in your area. You can also try a local farmer’s market. In a pinch, you can use wonton wrappers. Another option is to order them online.

      Reply

  2. The recipe instructions don’t seem to match your pictures. You say to put two dollops of squash mixture 4 inches apart, yet the picture shows 6 dollops on one sheet. If you did 6, you would only use 4 pasta sheets, not a pound . You indicate that this recipe makes 12 ravioli. Confusing.

    Reply

    1. Hi Pam. The instructions actually say to put two TABLESPOONS (each dollop is 2 Tablespoons in size) 4 inches apart. The pasta sheets I purchased for this recipe were rectangular and 1 pound of pasta sheets allowed me to make two sets of 6 raviolis. I didn’t tell you how many dollops per sheet because depending on where you buy your pasta sheets, they might be square, smaller, bigger, different shapes, but 1 pound should be enough for 12 ravioli. Hope that helps explain it all.
      ML

      Reply

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