Pumpkin Ravioli Recipe

Recipe: Angel Hair Pasta with Crabmeat, Jalapeño and Mint

If you're lucky, you've never known a world without olive oil or a time when Parmesan cheese only came in green cans.

But there was such a world. Once stigmatized as the cuisine of "garlic eaters," Italian food and its ingredients were almost impossible to find in America 40 years ago.

But as increased travel and waves of new immigrants coaxed Americans to be more adventurous, Italian food found its way onto American tables — and into their hearts. During the 1960s and 70s, retailers began marketing "healthy" Italian ingredients, such as olive oil. And during the 1980s, big name chefs like Wolfgang Puck adapted and enhanced foods like pizza, giving them culinary credibility and pushing them into the mainstream.

Today, dozens of oils, vinegars and other essentials vie for shelf space in supermarkets, and everything from pizza to pasta proliferates are on mainstream menus. "Italian food appeals to such a broad spectrum," says Jonathan Waxman of the New York restaurant Barbuto. "It appeals to kids, snobby people, rustic diners. It appeals to big groups, or an elegant dinner. It goes the full gamut."

Like other chefs who came up in the 1980s, Waxman made his name applying his classical French training to American ingredients. But he never forgot the "old school" Italian dishes he knew as a child in San Francisco, the cioppino and veal scaloppini. At Barbuto, and in his new book "Italian, My Way," Waxman adapts the simplicity, seasonality and most of all, the spontaneity of Italian dishes to American sensibilities. Overripe tomatoes are studded with garlic and roasted for a simple sauce, and fresh asparagus is shaved and dressed with lemon and hazelnuts.

The next frontier, say John Mariani, author of "How Italian Food Conquered the World" and Waxman is to have Americans distinguish between the foods of Italy's different regions. "The most important thing about Italy is that it's not one cuisine, and now we're discovering all the different regions," Waxman says. "It's like America. It's the difference between what you get in Maine versus Louisiana."

Already, Mariani says, restaurants are beginning to open in places like New York and San Francisco and even Boulder, Colo., that specialize in the cuisines of Rome or Venice or places that few people have heard of, such as Friuli, in the country's northeastern corner. Like Puck and food activist Alice Waters before them, they are educating as well as feeding.

Healthy Pumpkin Ravioli Recipe! (with Gorgonzola Sauce) | The ...

One of my favorite Italian recipes is pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli – and it’s a great indulgence once in a while. The reason I say indulgence is because most restaurants add a lot of extra butter/oil to the recipe and the ravioli is usually topped with a “brown butter sauce” or a “cheese sauce” – both of which have tons of fat & calories! So – I was super excited when I found a healthy recipe for pumpkin ravioli on cookinglight.com ! I tried it out for dinner tonight and it turned out to be an excellent meal! I did make some modifications to the cooking light recipe which I have included below – try it out and let me know how you like it!

1. Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl using a rubber spatula. Stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep from drying), spoon 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly with fingers to form a half-moon. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks Guilt Free Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce « Duke's House - [...] From The Picky Eater. [...] 15 Minute Gourmet Dinner: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Parmesan Olive Oil Sauce! | The Picky Eater: A Healthy Food Blog - [...] time, I’ll probably try my Gorgonzola cheese sauce with it to mix things up a bit Oh and ...

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