Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Trying this recipe came about for three reasons. One -- I've been collecting recipes out of magazines for a very longtime, but they have just sat in big piles, unorganized and untested. It was making me crazy so I finally sorted through them. I tossed duplicates (a girl can only have so many recipes for potato salad or lasagna) and organized by type. Two - while sorting through the piles, I found this recipe, and knew I had some left over canned pumpkin for trying a TWD recipe (Pumpkin Muffins - didn't much like them. I think I over cooked them . Sadness...) And Three -- I have a mini-herb garden off the back step, and I'm always looking to use up the sage that is growing so happily out there. Three birds, one stone!

This recipe isn't particularly difficult, though it does take a little bit of time to put together the ravioli. I'm still working on my time management skills in the kitchen, so the end felt a little rushed. The recipe said to add more to each won ton wrapper than I thought would work, but even though I didn't use as much per round, I ended up not having as many ravioli at the end as planned. The recipe says it makes 30, and I probably got 25 ravioli when I was done.

And the result -- well it was okay. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either (how's that for an endorsement!). I liked the creaminess of the pumpkin and how it played with the creaminess of the sauce. I also liked the bite the sage gave the filling, and how it played with the bite from the Gorgonzola. It seemed okay overall, and I was content to put away the extras for lunches later.

The next day I took one said lunch serving out, heated it up for two minutes, and really liked it much better than the night before. Maybe it's one of those things that needs to sit to really make the flavors sing. I'm still not sure I will be making this again, but I do know I'm happy to have two more servings waiting for me in the fridge!

I substituted pecans for hazelnuts (I had a few pecans that needed to be used), otherwise, I followed the recipe as below.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Cooking Light Magazine, Nov. 2007

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

2 Tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

2 Tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

30 round wonton wrappers

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Cooking spray

1 cup fat-free milk

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted

1. Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl using a rubber spatula. Stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep from drying), spoon 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly with fingers to form a half-moon. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

3. Fill a large Dutch oven with water; bring to a simmer. Add half of ravioli to pan (cover remaining ravioli with a damp towel to keep from drying). Cook 4 minutes or until done (do not boil), stirring gently. remove ravioli with a slotted spoon; lightly coat with cooking spray, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli.

4. Combine milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Gently stir in Gorgonzola.

5. Place 5 ravioli in each of 6 shallow bowls, and drizzle each serving with 3 Tablespoons Gorgonzola mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons hazelnuts. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings