holiday-glam sweet potato ravioli
for your thanksgiving leftovers and festive cooking lineup
It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and somehow I’m still thinking about food. Or rather: What am I going to do with all these leftovers? Yes, I will be making the obligatory turkey-stuffing-gravy-cranberry-randomvegetable sandwich. Yes, it will be delicious. But if you’re looking for another way to clear out the fridge this weekend—not to mention a fun project to take on with your family and friends—here’s my bid: sweet potato ravioli with brown butter, warm spices, cranberry drizzle, and toasted pecans. It’s pretty! It’s festive! And it’s not turkey!
As you all know, my favorite way to celebrate any new season, and particularly the holidays, is with a beautiful ravioli mold by John Francis Designs. Better yet, this time it’s not only one new mold but two: the first, swooping and wreathlike, inspired by Gothic architecture; the second, rimmed with tiny stars (or perhaps they’re twinkling lights! Or little snowflakes!) that are particularly adept at catching bits of brown butter. Today they’re bursting with a silky sweet potato and mascarpone filling (my first sweet potato filling recipe—how did I go so long without one?), but they will look just as lovely with whatever filling you like (I might suggest the winter squash & brown butter filling from my cookbook on page 234). In that same vein, if a ravioli mold isn’t currently in your arsenal of pasta tools, or you want to practice some other shapes, you can absolutely make this dish with another stuffed pasta like casoncelli, mezzelune, or triangoli.
I generally serve ravioli like these with a butter sauce. On a most basic level, butter sauces are easy to make and easier to enjoy. But they’re also useful from a flavor perspective—light and mild enough to let the filling shine—not to mention they’re best-suited to showing off the intricate details you’ve worked so hard to create (in this case, the patterns, but the same is true for pretty tortelloni folds and caramelle edges). This butter sauce in particular is based on a dish I came across years ago in chef Evan Funke’s cookbook, American Sfoglino, called “balanzoni con burro fuso e aromi misti” (balanzoni with butter, herbs, and spices). Although the balanzoni—essentially green tortelloni stuffed with cheese, mortadella, and herbs—did catch my eye, it was the rich brown butter sauce infused with a “veritable minefield” of herbs and spices that had me running to the kitchen. Funke’s recipe features a few more ingredients than mine, but the spirit of his chaotic cacophony of aromatics remains.
Of course, if you’re totally tired of cooking and eating, bookmark this one for a snow day or even next year’s Thanksgiving feast—in the meantime, I hope you enjoy some photos of pretty pasta.
PS: Be sure to check out these other recipes featuring John’s ravioli molds:
Sweet Potato Ravioli with Aromi Misti, Pecans & Cranberry Drizzle
Serves 4 to 6
For the filling
680 grams (1½ pounds; about 2 medium) orange sweet potatoes or yams
55 grams (2 ounces) mascarpone
15 grams (½ ounce) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
A dash of orange zest (optional; a little goes a long way!)*
Whole nutmeg
Kosher salt
For the pasta
1 batch egg pasta dough**
For the cranberry drizzle
50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
50 grams (½ cup) fresh or frozen cranberries
60 ml (¼ cup) water, plus more as needed
30 ml (2 tablespoons) red wine vinegar
30 ml (2 tablespoons) ruby port
For the sauce & serving
170 grams (¾ cup; 1½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
4 whole cloves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
8 large fresh sage leaves
Whole nutmeg
Kosher salt
70 grams (½ cup) pecans, toasted, sprinkled with salt, and coarsely chopped
Finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving (optional)
*The orange zest makes this filling especially festive, but it also emphasizes the sweetness of the dish. If you prefer something strictly savory, I recommend omitting it.
**For a deeper golden color and more tender dough like the one pictured here, use 150 grams (about 3 large) eggs and 80 grams (about 4 large) egg yolks.
For the filling
Heat the oven to 425°F. Scrub the potatoes, prick them all over with a fork, and arrange them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven until puffed and completely tender, about 1 hour.
When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and cut the flesh into large chunks. Spread the pieces on a paper towel-lined sheet pan and let cool completely. Cover with more paper towels and use your hands to mash and spread the potatoes into a thick layer. Blot dry with a couple more changes of paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible (you should end up with about 400 grams sweet potatoes).
Add the sweet potatoes and cheeses to a food processor. Season generously with salt, freshly grated nutmeg, and, if you’d like, a dash of that orange zest (see note above). Process until smooth and adjust seasoning to taste.
Transfer the filling to a bowl or piping bag and chill until ready to use, at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
For the pasta
Make the dough:
Make the dough by hand or in a food processor according to the directions in this post. Let the dough rest, tightly wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
For the cranberry drizzle
While the dough rests, make the cranberry drizzle.
In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid, combine sugar, cranberries, and water over medium-high heat. Cover and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries start to soften and pop, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook until the cranberries become jammy, occasionally uncovering and swirling the pot, about 5 minutes more.
Uncover and add the vinegar. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally and using a silicone spatula to press on the cranberries a bit. Add the port, continue to press on the cranberries, and reduce the mixture until syrupy, 2 to 3 minutes. If the glaze is very thick, add a splash of water to loosen; if it’s very thin, continue to cook until it reaches the desired consistency.
Adjust the seasoning to your liking—add a pinch of salt, a bit more acid, or a little more sweetness if desired. (I ultimately decided I liked it as-is!)
Strain through a fine mesh sieve, using the spatula to push through as much liquid as possible, and set aside. You should have about 60 ml (¼ cup) of the strained sauce—enough for this particular dish—but feel free to double it if you’d like.
Storage note: The glaze can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. It’ll thicken significantly as it cools, so gently reheat with a splash of water before using—you might need to strain it again to remove any lumps. You’re looking for a syrupy, drizzle-able consistency.
For the ravioli
Roll the pasta sheets:
Cut off a quarter of the dough and re-wrap the rest. On your work surface, flatten the section of dough with your palm into an oval-shaped pancake that’s about ¼-inch thick. Press the dough between your fingers to thin it out as needed.
Set your pasta machine to its widest setting. Position one tapered end of the oval in the center and roll it through once—you should be left with a longer, thinner oval.
Position the dough lengthwise on your work surface. Then fold the two tapered ends into the center like an envelope so the length is the same or similar to the slot of the pasta roller (about 6 inches; it doesn’t matter if the tapered ends overlap or if there’s space between them). Flatten the dough again with your palm/fingers so it’ll go through the machine easily.
Line up the bottom edge of the pasta envelope with the edge of the machine (the folded ends should run horizontally). Roll the dough through the machine on the same (widest setting) a second time—you should be left with a rectangular-ish piece of dough (it’s okay if the ends aren’t perfect!).
Continue rolling the dough through the machine one time on each progressive setting until you have a thin (but sturdy) sheet. On the Marcato Atlas 150 machine, I recommend rolling the dough to setting 6, then passing it through setting 6 a second time; for the KitchenAid attachment, I suggest rolling the dough to setting 7. If the dough feels sticky or tacky as you roll, dust both sides with some ‘00’ or all-purpose flour.
Cut the pasta sheet into sections:
Trim any uneven edges from the pasta sheet (you can ball up the scraps, wrap them, and reuse them after the fresh dough is gone). Cut the sheet into pieces that are slightly larger than the size of the mold (in this case, about 4½ to 5 inches wide)—you should get about 4 or 5 pieces from each sheet.
Cover the pieces with a damp dishcloth to prevent them from drying out and add any scraps to your wrapped scrap ball.
Assemble the ravioli (see video above!):
If the dough feels sticky, lightly dust one side of one of the pieces with ‘00’ or all-purpose flour (I often skip this step if the dough is only a little tacky—I find it better imprints the design if there’s a little friction). Position the rectangle floured-side down on top of the ravioli mold.
Using your fingers, a large clean paint brush, or a pastry brush, gently press the pasta into the mold, making sure to push into the filling pocket and paying particular attention to the carved details. It’s okay if the pasta doesn’t reach the bottom of the filling nook—the filling itself will do that for you later.
Pipe or spoon some filling into the filling pocket—don’t worry if it pops up above the mold a little. Use your finger or a pastry brush to brush a little water around the edges.
Lay another pasta rectangle on top of the filling. Firmly press down with your hands—you’ll feel the filling dropping further into the mold—then use a rolling pin with gentle pressure to seal the sheets together and further imprint the design, going back a forth a few times. (This can be a little tricky, so here’s what works best for me: first press straight down with the rolling pin at various points across the pasta and then roll back and forth—this prevents the dough from bunching and warping.)
Carefully flip the mold over and release the raviolo. Use a 3½-inch cookie cutter (pictured here), or a knife or pasta wheel to trim away the excess dough. (If the scraps feel hydrated, add them to your scrap ball; if they’re very dry, peel the layers apart, cut them into irregular pieces, and freeze them for a soup or snack.)
Repeat the process with the remaining pasta rectangles, and then with the remaining dough, including the scrap ball. Arrange the ravioli in a single layer on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and/or dusted with semolina flour.
For the sauce & serving
Start bringing a large pot of water to a gentle boil.
In a large sauté pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until frothy and the milk solids just begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the cinnamon, cloves, rosemary, thyme, and sage. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the butter starts to deepen in color, another minute or so. Add a generous grating of fresh nutmeg and season to taste with salt. Stir for another few seconds, then remove from the heat—the butter should be nicely browned and nutty. If it starts to get very dark, transfer the butter and aromatics to a bowl to stop the cooking.
When the water is boiling, season it generously with salt. Carefully drop in the ravioli, stir for a few moments to prevent sticking, and cook until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness (always taste-test!). When the ravioli are almost ready, return the butter sauce to medium heat.
With a spider sieve or slotted spoon, transfer the pasta directly to the sauce (alternatively, drain the pasta in a colander, and immediately tip it into the sauce). Swirl the pasta in the sauce until well-coated.
Transfer the ravioli and sauce to a large platter, arranging the aromatics around them for visual impact (though be sure to avoid serving any cinnamon sticks, cloves, or tough herb sprigs!). Alternatively, divide the ravioli and sage among plates and spoon more brown butter on top.
Finish with the cranberry drizzle, toasted pecans, and, if you’d like, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Enjoy immediately.
This looks like an adventure I need to try! Thanks Meryl!