Sweet Potato Ravioli With Sage Brown Butter Recipe

There's no way around it: Making homemade ravioli takes a little extra time and energy, but if you want to show your family and friends how much you love them, there's no better way than with this recipe for sweet potato ravioli with sage brown butter. The quintessential pairing for cool autumn evenings, the flavors of sage and sweet potatoes are sure to "wow" even the most discerning food critics in your family. "Sage makes the [recipe] special with its flavor. It gives it a nice, earthy flavor along with the sweet potatoes," says recipe developer Jessica Case. 

And while making pasta dough and cutting and filling ravioli is something that takes time, if you're anything like Case, you'll relish the opportunity to physically impart your love into the food. "I love working and making things with my hands. The best part is assembling the ravioli and making it pretty. Also, being Italian, I love anything that's pasta and sweet potatoes," she says. 

When you're gathering your ingredients for this homemade ravioli recipe, you'll need to separate them by the part of the recipe you're making to make sure you've got everything laid out and ready to go. This recipe has three separate parts: the pasta dough, the ravioli filling, and the sauce. 

For the pasta, you'll need semolina pasta flour, all-purpose flour, eggs, olive oil, water, and kosher salt. For the sauce, you'll need sweet potatoes (cubed and peeled), ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, an egg yolk, fresh or dried sage, more kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. And finally, for the sauce you'll need toasted pecans, unsalted butter, fresh sage leaves, lemon zest, and salt and pepper, to taste. 

First up, you'll need to boil your sweet potatoes. Add the cubed and peeled potatoes to a pot of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cook the potatoes until they're fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain them and set them aside. 

While the sweet potatoes are cooking and cooling, you can turn your attention to the pasta dough. Add the semolina flour, all-purpose flour, eggs, olive oil, water, and salt to an electric stand mixer. Mix everything on a medium-low speed using the dough hook for 10 minutes — the dough should become elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap it in plastic wrap, and set it aside to rest for at least 20 minutes. 

If you don't have an electric stand mixer, you can mix the dough by hand, just realize it'll take more time (and energy) to do so. Case says, "You need to make a big hole in the flour for the eggs, then slowly mix the wet ingredients and start kneading." The goal is still to get the dough to that elastic consistency.

As the dough rests, pull out your food processor to get to work on the filling. Combine the cooked sweet potatoes, ricotta, Parmesan, egg yolk, sage, salt, and pepper in the processor and mix until the filling is smooth. Remove the carafe and refrigerate it with the top on as you work on rolling out the dough. 

It's now time to make your ravioli, starting by rolling out the dough. Flour your work surface to help prevent the dough from sticking, and use a rolling pin or pasta roller to roll the dough out to a proper thickness. "The dough should be paper-thin, about ⅛-inch thick," says Case. 

With the dough rolled out, you have options on how to cut it. The easiest way (and what Case did) was to use a ravioli form, but don't worry if you don't have a form. "Use a ravioli stamp that stamps out individually, or use a knife [to cut the dough into squares]," Case says. A cookie cutter or pastry wheel would also work.

If you're using a form (or a stamp), dust it with flour to keep the dough from sticking. Then, follow the instructions to cut the ravioli. If using the form (like Case), you'll place a piece of dough over the form so you can see the individual ravioli holes that you'll end up filling. The process varies slightly with the stamp or knife, but the end result is the same; you end up with squares of pasta dough that will be filled and layered with more squares of pasta dough. 

If using a ravioli form, add 2-3 teaspoons of the sweet potato filling to the center of each ravioli hole. If you're using a stamp, knife, pastry wheel, or cookie cutter to cut your ravioli, simply do the same — add 2-3 teaspoons of the filling to the center of each of your squares (the squares should be cut prior to filling them). 

If you're using a form, layer a second sheet of dough over the first sheet after you've filled each hole with sweet potato filling. Follow the form's directions for separating the ravioli — you likely won't need to do anything more to seal the edges and achieve a finished look. 

Case says if you're not using a form, dab water around the edges of each piece of ravioli before adding the second sheet or square on top. This will help seal the edges to prevent the ravioli from bursting. Finally, to give the ravioli a nice finished look, Case suggests using a fork to crimp the edges. 

It's now time to focus on the sauce. Combine the butter and fresh sage leaves in a small saucepan. Heat the ingredients over low heat for at least 15 minutes, infusing the butter with the sage. Stir continuously until the butter browns slightly and the sage leaves become crispy. 

All that's left to do is cook your ravioli. Place the pasta in a pot and bring it to a gentle boil. Let the raviolis boil for 4-5 minutes, stirring gently. When they start to float, cook 2 more minutes, then remove the pasta with a slotted spoon or colander. 

It's now time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Serve the sweet potato ravioli with a drizzle of sage bugger, a sprinkle of toasted pecans, and extra Parmesan cheese and lemon zest. "I would serve [it with] a nice light wine and a side of salad," says Case. "This is filling, so I don't think protein is necessary. Also, some rustic bread would pair nicely." If you don't finish it all in one night, it does well as leftovers. You can store the pasta in a glass container for up to 4 days. "I like to reheat it in the pan and make it crispy," suggests Case.