Butternut Squash Ravioli Recipe

I've been cooking vegan food because my sister is vegan. Once in a blue moon, I will stray and eat meat outside, so I do not consider myself a full vegan. Anyways, I was craving some butternut squash and ravioli, so I looked up recipes. I could not find one that I loved, so I combined several recipes to make my dish. 

I used this recipe for the vegan ravioli: 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or another cup of all purpose flour 

• 3/4 tsp. salt  

• 1 scant cup water

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1-2 tbsp. cornmeal for dusting (optional)]

I didn't have whole wheat pastry flour, so I just used all purpose flour. I also didn't have a roller or a pasta maker, so my dough turned out super thick, but it still tasted fine (but really heavy). 

Make the Vegan Ravioli Dough

1. Mix flours and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Add water and olive oil. Mix thoroughly until a dough is formed, adding a bit of water if it seems to dry, more flour if too moist.
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Lightly rub the surface of dough with olive oil, place into a clean bowl, cover and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling and sauce, I greatly altered this recipe:

 Red Pepper Sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 cup cream   ----> I used 3/4 cup of non-dairy milk 

1/4 cup milk  

1 tsp flour

2 tbsp Parmesan cheese  ---> You could optionally use 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes

2 small red peppers roasted

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Filling (I changed a lot)

2 tbsp olive oil divided

1/2 cup chopped butternut squash (I used 2.5 to 3 cups of squash)

1 cup vegetable broth 

1/2 red onion chopped

1 shallot minced  (I didn't have it)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup mixed mushrooms

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup kale chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

3 tbsp Parmesan cheese  You could optionally use nutritional yeast flakes

1 tbsp fresh basil

[For roasted red peppers

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice peppers in half, getting rid of seeds and white pith. Drizzle with about 1 tbsp of olive oil, then cook in oven for 30 min.
2. While peppers are cooking, begin the filling, saving the cream sauce until last.]

For filling:

1. Cut butternut squash into pieces and sauté with olive oil for 2 min. Add broth and cook on medium heat until squash is tender, about 10 min.
2. Put squash into blender (along with seasonings and lemon juice) to puree.

Make the Vegan Ravioli

This was the most difficult part, so I didn't really follow the instructions. You can follow the instructions but I just plopped some filling onto the dough and made some square shapes. 

"Bring a large pot of water to a boil and carefully add ravioli. Cook just until they float, about 2-3 minutes. Immediately remove from the pot and drain into a colander."

Now that the pan and blender are free, we can make the cream sauce. 

1. Heat olive oil in pan and once hot, add garlic. Then, add "milk" and flour (and flakes). Add salt and pepper, and then simmer sauce for 4-5 min on low.
2. Add red peppers, then mix together in a blender or Magic Bullet to puree the red pepper and create a smooth, creamy sauce. Set aside.

With the pan free, we can make the Vegetables (optional)

I was craving peas and we had carrots so I thought it would be a nice addition. I added a bag of frozen peas and half a bag of shredded carrots to the pan. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and cooked them until the carrots looked soft. 

Finale:

Add the ravioli and the cream sauce into the pan and mix. Enjoy. 

Sorry if this was really messy or hard to follow (this is my first time doing this!) Also, I'm not sure if the proportion of filling to dough is correct as I used wonton wrappers for most of it, and my vegan dough didn't exactly turn out right. Cooking is about experimentation after all!