1lbsmallyoung honey mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed to a length of 1-2 inches.
4tablespoonsunsalted butterplus 2 chilled, diced tablespoons for finishing the sauce
⅛cupsliced fresh sage
½cupdry white wine
1cuphomemade chicken stockplus more if needed to thin the sauce
4ouncesfresh young spinachcleaned, blanched, and shocked in an ice bath
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepperto taste
Instructions
Rye Pasta
Mix the flours, and salt with eggs, yolks, and water in the bowl of a stand mixer until the mixture comes together in a smooth dough, and springs back when pressed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate it for 20 minutes until needed.
Squash
Meanwhile, season the squash with oil, salt, pepper and thyme, then cook, covered in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 or until tender. Transfer the squash to the bowl of a food processor and blend until very smooth, then remove to a bowl, allow to cool and add the cheese, ginger and nutmeg.
Ravioli
Roll out the pasta to the thinnest setting on a pasta machine, then use the rim of a glass to cut out circles of dough. Make ravioli by wiping the bottom cirlce of dough with beaten egg, then filling with a heaping teaspoon of the filling, topping with another circle of dough, and pressing gently to remove air pockets and seal the edges. Dust the ravioli with semolina flour or cornmeal to prevent sticking, then refrigerate or freeze until needed.
Serving
To serve the dish, boil some lightly salted water for the ravioli and cook them until just al dente. Meanwhile, heat the 4 tablespoons of butter in a non-reactive saute pan until browned and aromatic, add the mushrooms and sage and cook until the mushrooms are completely cooked, about 5 minutes. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, then deglaze with the wine and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and reduce by half again, then add the spinach, finally finish by stirring in the remaining cold diced butter to make a creamy sauce. Add the ravioli and toss to coat, double check the seasoning and adjust if needed, then divide the ravioli evenly between 4 heated dinner plates and serve immediately topped with a little extra grated parmesan if desired.
Notes
One of the other reasons I made this was to highlight the fantastic heirloom squash we have in Minnesota. I used a variety of butternut squash here called a pumpkin butternut, like the name implies, it taste a bit like pumpkin. The pumpkin butternut is very good, but your favorite squash will work just fine to make a ravioli filling too.