Shitake Pumpkin Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Directions

1. Roasted Pumpkin
2. This simple process will make way more pumpkin than you need. The pumpkin I used for this recipe came from an 18 pound monster I cooked up in the fall. Basically, you simply cut it into chunks, remove the seeds, slather the pieces with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with Thyme, a little salt and a touch of pepper. You then bake at 350 until tender, remove the skins and mash up the pumpkin. This produced enough pumpkin for several pies and several cups of filling for freezing.
3. Don't let the skins and seeds go to waste - there's a lot of flavor there. Cover them with water (or chicken stock) and simmer the mix for a couple of hours on low heat. Strain and reserve the liquid, add a little brown sugar and chipotle powder and reduce to a thick caramelized pumpkin barbecue sauce. Unique and delicious.

1. The Main Dish
2. For the Shitake powder, place dried shitake mushrooms (or another mushroom variety) in a food processor with the metal blade and chop to a fine powder. Mix dry ingredients together and form a well in the center. Add the olive oil and eggs, fold into the dry ingredients and then knead until well mixed. Add a few drops of water if the dough won't hold a ball shape, but the mix should not be wet. Wrap in plastic and set in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. Saute the garlic in olive oil and add the thyme until fragrant. Add the roasted pumpkin, pepper and salt and stir over low-medium heat until well mixed and the pumpkin is no longer releasing liquid. Turn off heat and fold in the Parmesan. Set the mix in the fridge and cool to at least room temperature.
4. Cut the dried tomatoes into thin slices. Soak tomatoes in boiling water for 20-30 minutes.
5. Roll out the pasta dough into long sheets with a pasta maker or hand roller. Spoon a row of filling onto the sheet and fold over. Firmly press one inch pockets in the pasta and cut with a ravioli blade or knife.
6. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and make the sauce while it is heating up. Lightly heat butter in medium size frying pan and add shallots. Saute until translucent and add tomato and water from soaking. Saute until water has mostly evaporated. Add cream & Balsamic vinegar and heat until sauce has lightly thickened.
7. Drop the ravioli into the water. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly, so once it goes into the boiling water, it should be out within three minutes at the most. Drain the ravioli, coat in the sauce and serve immediately.