Enjoy healthy Vegetarian Pumpkin Ravioli

Thursday, February 24, 2011 by: Tony Isaacs
Tags: pumpkin, recipes, health news

(NewsTarget) Pumpkins are actually types of squash, and are a healthy fall and winter favorite which can also be enjoyed in recipes year round if you freeze or can the flesh after they ripen in the fall and if you save the seeds. Here is a healthy meatless pasta dish which can be used as either a main course or a side dish.

Here is a healthy meatless pasta dish which can be used as either a main course or a side dish.

INGREDIENTS

Filling

1 cup roasted pumpkin
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
dash of white or black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup ground cashews (or nuts of your choice)

Pasta

1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1/2 cup all purpose non-bleached flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup water
1 tsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Roast the Pumpkin:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice your pumpkin in half horizontally and scrape out all the seeds and surrounding stringiness.
3. Place both pumpkin halves cut side down on a baking sheet at roast for about an hour or until the skin is very soft and brown in spots and the flesh is soft and easily separates.
4. Scrape flesh away from skins and let drain in colander.
5. Make the filling:
6. Melt margarine over medium heat in a large saucepan.
7. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, pepper, salt and ground cashews.
8. Stir in pumpkin and cook, stirring and mashing, until your mixture is fragrant and the consistency of stringy, creamy mashed potatoes.
9. Turn off heat and set aside.

Make the pasta:

1. Sift together flour, salt and basil. Add oil and water and knead until a stiff dough forms.
2. If you're going to be cooking your ravioli the same day that you're making them, you'll probably want to prepare a large pot of water at this point so it'll be ready to go when you're done with assembly. Add a dash of salt and a dollop of olive oil to the water.
3. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it as thin as you can with a rolling pin (or, if you have a pasta maker, by all means use it). You may want to work with a small portion of the dough at a time.
4. Cut your dough into roughly matching squares - about 2.5" works well.
5. Put approximately 1 tablespoon of your pumpkin filling in the middle of a square, place another square on top, and pinch around the edges to seal. This is a great step on which to enlist the help of family and friends - it will go much quicker with more hands on the job. Place ravioli on parchment paper to prevent sticking.
6. Gently drop ravioli into a large pot of boiling water.
7. Cook for 15 minutes and carefully drain.
8. Serve with sauce of your choice.

Notes:

* One pumpkin will yield way more than the one cup needed for this recipe, so you might want to plan on making a pie, soup, and/or other recipes that call for pumpkin. Or quadruple this recipe; ravioli freezes well. Or just drain, bag and freeze your excess pumpkin.
* Save and rinse your pumpkin seeds. They are easy to roast and delicious. Simply toss in oil, spread on a baking sheet and roast at 350 for about 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
* You can make the ravioli ahead of time. It keeps very well on parchment paper in containers in the fridge.

To see other healthy pumpkin recipes, other meatless recipes as well as healthier meat recipes, see:

http://www.tbyil.com/healthy_recipes.htm

Sources included:

http://www.gayot.com/lifestyle/health/featur...
http://www.tbyil.com/Vegan_Pumpkin_Ravioli.h...

About the author

Tony Isaacs, is a natural health author, advocate and researcher who hosts The Best Years in Life website for those who wish to avoid prescription drugs and mainstream managed illness and live longer, healthier and happier lives naturally. Mr. Isaacs is the author of books and articles about natural health, longevity and beating cancer including "Cancer's Natural Enemy" and is working on a major book project due to be published later this year. He is also a contributing author for the worldwide advocacy group "S.A N.E.Vax. Inc" which endeavors to uncover the truth about HPV vaccine dangers.
Mr. Isaacs is currently residing in scenic East Texas and frequently commutes to the even more scenic Texas hill country near Austin and San Antonio to give lectures and health seminars. He also hosts the CureZone "Ask Tony Isaacs - featuring Luella May" forum as well as the Yahoo Health Group "Oleander Soup" and he serves as a consultant to the "Utopia Silver Supplement Company".