September 16, 2009 | Pasta & Pizza, Technique

I forgot one technique yesterday in my post about all of the ways I use to preserve the bounty of the harvest season – homemade ravioli! This may sound difficult, but I have an easy technique: start with the pre-formed wonton wrappers in the refrigerator section of your grocery store (usually near the tofu section).
The ravioli you see above are actually stuffed with crab and mascarpone cheese and finished in a brown butter sauce with some peas. But many of the vegetables of this harvest season work wonderfully for making homemade ravioli, in particular pureed butternut squash (or pumpkin or any other winter squash). To make the filling, mix equal parts vegetable puree with ricotta or mascarpone cheese. You don’t need that much as each ravioli only takes a small amount of filling.

Place a rounded teaspoonful of the filling on one of the wonton wrappers, brush the edges lightly with water, and lay a second wrapper on top. Press to seal edges, making sure to seal out all of the excess air bubbles. Freeze the ravioli on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a plastic bag or container once fully frozen.

To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, a few at a time, and just barely simmer until the ravioli skin (pasta) is translucent which indicates it’s cooked through. The ravioli will sink initially, then float to the surface as they finish cooking. I cook mine from frozen as they seem to hold up better. They are delicate, so don’t have the water rapidly boiling or they will fall apart!

Note: You can also just puree vegetables that you will use later in fillings and freeze them until needed.