With the arrival of Fall I feel a certain obligation to cook with pumpkin…not that I don’t enjoy pumpkin. I do…but I do not need another pumpkin pie recipe! Fortunately, this year, after imploring the great pumpkin gods for inspiration, I was blessed with visions of these AWESOME, I mean TOTALLY AWESOME pumpkin raviolis. This recipe is an amazing combination of flavors that just don’t stop. You can even take the easy route by using wonton wrappers . You’ve got sweet balanced by savory. The pumpkin is especially smooth and creamy with the cream cheese and perfectly accented by crispy pancetta. Literally heaven in your mouth! Don’t be intimidated by the instructions. I am just trying to lay out every detail for you so that they can turn out as perfectly for you as they did for me. Serves four as a healthy main course or eight + as an appetizer. Enjoy!
Add pancetta to pan and cook stirring occasionally until slightly crisp.
Cook the pumpkin for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally to help reduce some of the liquid from the pumpkin.
Add the cream cheese to the pan in cubes.
Using a small spoon, drop teaspoons full of pumpkin filling into the center of each wonton wrapper.
Dip your fingers in the egg wash and spread it on the wonton wrapper all around the pumpkin filling.
Carefully line up each pair and press around three sides of the ravioli to seal.
Very carefully work your way around the ravioli, gently squeezing the air out the sides
Slice up the sage leaves and set aside.
Add the whole cube of butter and let it begin to melt without touching it. 
Make sure it doesn’t go from BROWN to BURNED! This is perfect.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1-15 ounce can good quality pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling or you'll be in for a surprise!)
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- pepper to taste (7 or 8 grinds of a pepper mill usually does it)
- pinch of nutmeg
- 4 ounces low fat cream cheese (or regular, your choice)
- 1 package wonton wrappers (usually 52 individual wrappers)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup pancetta in small dice (You can find this prepackaged at many grocery stores)
- Parmesan or Romano cheese, freshly grated on top of raviolis
- 1 stick butter
- 8-10 sage leaves, sliced into strips (see picture above)
- Begin by heating a saute pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook stirring occasionally until slightly crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Leaving the fat from the pancetta in the pan, add an additional one tablespoon of butter and melt over low heat. Add the grated garlic and stir for a minute until fragrant.
- Add the pumpkin puree and continue to cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally to help reduce some of the liquid from the pumpkin. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Add the cream cheese to the pan in cubes and continue to stir until fully incorporated. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- Lay 10 wonton wrappers at a time on a large sheet of parchment paper. Using a small spoon, drop teaspoons full of pumpkin filling into the center of each wonton wrapper.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon of water together. Dip your fingers in the egg wash and spread it on the wonton wrapper all around the pumpkin filling. Cover wonton wrapper to within a quarter inch of the filling, doing three raviolis at a time. Take a second wonton wrapper to cover and seal each one. Carefully line up each pair and press around three sides of the ravioli to seal. Now pick it up, and holding the open side up, carefully squeeze the last side closed, being careful not to squeeze any filling out. Chances are good you will have air pockets. Very carefully work your way around the ravioli, gently squeezing the air out the sides. (It's like putting a sticker on your car window, and needing to remove the air bubbles!)
- If you are cooking the raviolis right away, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. While the water is boiling, let's make the Sage Brown Butter!
- Slice up the sage leaves and set aside.
- With your saute pan on LOW, add the whole cube of butter and let it begin to melt without touching it. Once the butter begins to brown around the edges, you can swirl the butter a bit to keep it from burning. Add the sliced sage leaves and stir, watching closely once the butter begins to foam, to make sure it doesn't go from BROWN to BURNED! It is only the milk solids that actually turn brown, so you will need to spoon some from the bottom to check for golden brown "crumbs" in the butter. Once you are happy (and this can happen very quickly so beware) remove from the heat and pour into a separate container so that the butter doesn't continue to cook from the residual heat. Sage should also be crisp at this point.
- Before adding raviolis to the boiling water, add a little salt. Begin cooking them by adding five or six raviolis at a time, making sure that they don't stick together by stirring gently with a spoon. Cook about 2 minutes before removing with a slotted spoon and transferring to a serving plate.
- YOU CAN MAKE THE RAVIOLIS IN ADVANCE AND FREEZE THEM! YAY! If they are frozen, add them to the boiling water frozen and cook for three to four minutes before removing.
- Strain cooked raviolis and plate either onto a large warmed serving platter or individual plates. Finish them off with a healthy drizzle of the Sage Brown Butter, a sprinkling of crispy pancetta and some shaved or grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
