Ravioli and Butternut Squash Sauce

Holy tastebuderific dinner I made tonight!  Yeah, I don't know, I was trying to come up with a fun, made-up word for super delicious taste times.  ANYWAYS...

I bought this big ol’ butternut squash the other day totally on a whim.  I love squash, but had nothing in particular in mind that I was going to do with it.  Today I decided I wanted to do something with that squash and some pasta, and then I remembered I had some cheese ravioli…it sounded like a fantastic idea (and it was a really fantastic, that’s why I’m sharing).  I really wish I could tell you that I made the ravioli, and then give you an awesome recipe for it, but I've never made pasta in my life.  So anyhow, I did a quick interwebs search and found this recipe, which was perfect because I also have a shit-ton of 2 different types of basil growing in my garden.  I only very slightly strayed from the recipe I found, and here’s what I did.  This was so delicious, you should go get a squash right now and start cooking.

Yep, that's Beeb, eating squash out
of the food processor.

Ingredients

Your favorite cheese ravioli (in whatever amount you want)

1 medium to large butternut squash, roasted

   (I’ll give roasting instructions, in case you’re not sure about that)

1-2 cups half &half

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp fresh basil, torn
cayenne pepper (optional - use as much as you'd like, I like my food spicy!)

salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1) Cook ravioli according to package instructions. 

2) While your ravioli is cooking, place squash, approximately 1 cup half & half, cheese, basil and cayenne pepper in food processor.  Blend, and add half & half until the sauce reaches a consistency you like (I like it thicker, so I only used about a cup).  Add salt & pepper to taste, if desired (I didn’t add any, I thought it was perfect as is).

3) Drain ravioli and spoon desired amount of sauce over the top.

**My squash was still hot when I put it in the food processor, so I didn’t heat it at all after I blended it…you may want to heat your squash sauce after blending it.

Roasting the squash:  Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, place in a 9”x12” baking dish (cut side up), put approximately 1 tbsp butter in each side and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper (I also sprayed a little bit of olive oil all over the squash, but it’s not necessary).  Place the squash in the oven for 30-45 minutes (until the squash is all soft and can be easily scooped out).

Enjoy!

 ~ j