Cheater Halloween Pumpkin Ravioli W/ Caramelized Onions

I have always felt it a waste the amount of good pumpkin that gets wasted during Halloween Jack-O-Lantern carving. I have come up with a fairly easy gourmet dish that can take advantage of not only the Pumpkin flesh but also the seeds.

A chef friend of mine taught me a trick that he used in his restaurant to make quick Ravioli. I call it "Cheater Ravioli" because instead of having to make fresh pasta from scratch this uses Won-Ton wrappers that are available in most supermarkets. When stuffed and boiled these has pretty much the exact same taste & texture as real pasta but without all of the work.

Below you will find the recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Caramelized Onions.

One of the most fun parts of this recipe is getting the "ingredients" out of the pumpkin... I decided that the Instructables Robot would give me added inspiration so I carved him into my pumpkin! Since I did not need a whole lot of pumpkin flesh I decided to do the "newer" method of carving where you shave off the outer skin to let the light shine through the flesh. I thought this would be perfect for the orange Instructables Robot.

If you want to know how I carved the pumpkin I created a second Instructable here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Instructables-Robot-Halloween-Pumpkin/

Otherwise we continue with the ingredient gathering... Separate the seeds from the pumpkin guts and spread out on a cookie sheet and let dry for a bit. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and sprinkle a bit of olive oil and a good amount of salt over the seeds and roast in the oven until they turn golden brown.

Fry one clove of minced garlic along with half a medium onion in butter. Once the onion is tender add the finely chopped pumpkin and cook on medium high until it is fully cooked and the fibres have broken down. Add salt, pepper, a dash of cloves & nutmeg. Set aside and let cool.

Take one Won-Ton wrapper and put a small spoon full of pumpkin mix just off center. Wet the edges of the Won-Ton and fold it over to make a triangle. Press the edges with a fork to join the "Ravioli" and create a seal. Repeat until you use up all of the Won-Tons.

To make the Caramelized Onion "sauce" fry one clove of garlic in butter until slightly browned on medium / high heat. Add a whole onion that has been sliced thinly and fry until it is tender and has browned. Add more butter to the pan and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove the onions and butter from the frying pan and set aside. Do not clean the frying pan at this time (you will see why a bit later).

In a pot of boiling salted water drop a few raviolis at a time and cook until they float (the first one in the pot tends to stick to the bottom so you may want to nudge it with a fork after it has cooked for a minute). It does not take long to cook these as the pumpkin is already cooked so you are just cooking the "Pasta". When the raviolis are done cooking they will float to the top of the pot just remove them with a strainer and let them drain.

Put the frying pan (that you fried the onions in) back on the heat and quickly fry each ravioli in the left-over butter. This will add additional flavor and texture to the raviolis and give it some nice color.

Place the Raviolis on a plate and with a spoon drop the fried onions and butter over the top of each one. Take a handful of the pumpkin seeds and sprinkle over the plate. Lastly shave some Parmigianino Reggiano over everything. It is amazing how much flavor is in the pumpkin. This dish is a perfect example of sweet / salty & soft / crunchy all working together it is like a party in your mouth!

All that is left to do is to light your Jack-O-Lantern (https://www.instructables.com/id/Instructables-Robot-Halloween-Pumpkin/) turn down the lights and enjoy dinner!


Full Recipe

Ingredients
1 Package Won-Ton Wrappers
2 Cups Pumpkin
1 1/2 Onions
2 Cloves Garlic
3 Teaspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cloves (Ground)
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg (Ground)
5 Tablespoons Butter
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil

Directions:

Filling:
1) In a saucepan fry 1 clove of garlic in butter on medium high heat.
2) When garlic is browned add 1/2 onion finely chopped.
3) Add 2 cups pumpkin and cook until soft about 30 minutes.
4) Add 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, nutmeg & cloves and stir.
5) Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
1) Spread pumpkin seed on cookie sheet and let dry for 30 minutes.
2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3) Sprinkle Olive Oil and 2 teaspoons of salt over the seeds.
4) Roast seeds until the turn golden brown about 40 minutes.

Raviolis:
1) Separate the Won-Ton wrappers.
2) Place a small spoonful of Pumpkin on the wrapper.
3) Wet the edges of the wrapper and fold over into a triangle.
4) With a fork press edges to seal and create decorative edge.
5) Boil in salted water until the raviolis float about 7 minutes.
6) Remove from pot and strain.

Caramelized Onions:
1) In a saucepan fry 1 clove of garlic in butter on medium high heat.
2) When garlic is browned add 1 onion thinly sliced.
3) Cook until onion is soft and browned about 20 minutes.
4) Add rest of butter and cook down for another 5 minutes.

Plating:
1) Fry raviolis in the pan used to fry the onions 2 minutes each.
2) Place on plate and spoon over caramelized onions and butter.
3) Sprinkle with roasted pumpkin seeds and shaved parmigianino reggiano.