Folding some pumpkin ravioli...

With 10 new recipes made this week, the three that stood out for us were the Vegetable Enchiladas, Cranberry-Pear Cake Bars and the Boneless Buffalo Wings with Veggies and Spicy Blue Cheese Dip.

December sure is flying by... can you believe Christmas is just a couple weeks away?! This will be crunch week for us as we will be doing the final batches of cookies, candies and assorted baked goods that need to be sent out via mail or hand delivered. My heart skipped a beat while I was glancing over the master list of ingredients this morning to make sure we didn't need anything else when we went to the market - on tap this week to be used is at least 20 sticks of butter, 23 cups of sugar, 8 to 10 cups of nuts and probably around 4-6 pounds of chocolate. Eek!

Once we got back, I spent most of the time today cleaning up, putting away supplies and getting a plan together so I don't forget about anything we've planned on making. I decided on a fairly mindless, but labor-intensive recipe for dinner tonight so I could relax and enjoy the process while not having to think about much. Filling the wontons skins for these Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce was just the ticket!

We used round wonton skins for these, but you could just as well use square and fold them into triangles. To make sure the filling isn't too wet, the mashed pumpkin is scooped onto some paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture - you can used canned or homemade mashed pumpkin (we still have a bunch of homemade in the freezer which seems to hold onto a little more water than canned). Be sure to do this step though, even if you need to use canned pumpkin. The pumpkin does not stick to the paper towels or anything - it actually peels off quite easily, so don't worry about that.

Once that had been taken care of, we mixed the pumpkin with breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt, fresh sage, pepper and grated nutmeg. When you assemble the wontons, it is best to do it assembly line style, working with three or four pieces at a time... otherwise to me it seems like it takes forever to finish. To ensure the filled wontons don't stick to the baking sheet, be sure to do a light dusting of cornstarch before you start adding them. One note about cooking these - they are a little more delicate than a pasta ravioli - when you add them to the water to cook, try to keep it at a simmer, rather than a rolling boil, as this will help them not want to fall apart.

While they were cooking, a quick sauce was made by heating milk and flour until it begins to thicken - butter is stirred in, followed by a handful of pungent Gorgonzola cheese. Jeff and I both thought that the sauce was very good - a little on the thin side though. I must say, I can see how the combination of pumpkin and Gorgonzola might not be for everyone - it is a little different, but we quite enjoyed it! There are lots of soft textures between the silky sauce and creamy filling inside the wontons, so a scattering of nutty toasted hazelnuts added a welcome contrasting crunch. If you want to prepare some of this ahead of time, you could go ahead and fill the wontons a day before - just keep them on the dusted baking sheet and wrap well with saran wrap before putting them in the refrigerator.

Recipes
Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce