Candy-shaped filled pasta with a creamy stuffing of winter squash served with a walnut sauce. Makes about 2 lbs of finished caramelle, roughly 8 entrées or 12 appetizer portions. Walnut sauce serves 2 people.
A few tablespoons of cold waterto help the dough come together
Winter Squash Filling
1lb( or 2 cups) mashed winter squash such as kabocha, hubbard, or buttercup
¼cupheavy creamwarmed
2tablespoonsunsalted butter at room temperature
¼cupgrated parmesan cheese
Fresh grated nutmegto taste
A few grinds of fresh ground black pepper
Black walnut sauce (optional)
2tablespoonunsalted butter
½teaspoonminced garlicoptional
½cupheavy cream
2tablespoonscrushed walnutsI used black walnuts
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepperto taste
Birch syrupbalsamic vinegar reduction, or Saba, to garnish
Pinchof fresh chopped thymeoptional
Splash of dry white wine
Instructions
Pasta Dough
Combine the flour, salt and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment for a minute drizzling in a tablespoon or two of water. Switch to the dough hook and knead to a smooth dough. Remove the dough, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Squash filling
Put 1 lb of still hot, squash in a food processor with the remaining filling ingredients except the cheese. Season with a little nutmeg and salt, then stir in the cheese. Put the filing into a disposable pastry bag and reserve.
Filling the caramelle
Using a lightly floured work surface, cut off ¼ of the dough and roll out to the thinnest setting on the pasta machine. Keep the rest of the dough until towel as you work. Please refer to the video here.
After you've rolled out the dough cut it into 12 inch sheets. Lightly spritz the dough with a water bottle to help seal the edges. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut the two strips of dough into 3 inch rectangles.
Shaping the caramelle
Pipe about 2 teaspoons of filling into the middle of each rectangle, then roll them over and twist the edges to form a candy shape.
Place the caramelle on a baking sheet lined with parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. The pasta can be frozen and transferred to a bag in the freezer. Frozen filled pasta will last for a month.
Walnut Sauce (optional)
Melt the butter in a 10 inch saute pan over medium heat. Add the crushed walnuts and garlic.
Heat until the nuts are golden, then deglaze with a splash of wine and reduce by half. Add the cream and simmer for a minute until barely thickened. Add salt and fresh thyme to taste.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the caramelle until they float and are tender, about 2-3 minutes fresh, or 4-5 minutes if frozen. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl and toss with a knob of butter or olive oil.
Divide the walnut sauce between two warmed pasta bowls, then arrange the caramelle on top. Drizzle with a thread of birch syrup or balsamic reduction, garnish with parmesan, and a few extra walnuts and serve.
Video
Notes
Sometimes I make the filling with squash and soft cheese like mascarpone, or ricotta.
If you don’t want to make pasta dough, you can use wonton wrappers.