First among dumplings: Ravioli

I had some butternut squash in the fridge that I'd optimistically roasted earlier in the week, so I thought my first dumpling ought be stuffed with it. Enterprising, I think it's called. Or is it making do? I've made pasta once before, and that time they quadrupled in size to massive, chewy pillow-shapes. So, looking to avoid that happening again.

This time I put a pile of 350g plain flour (you're meant to use oo flour but I had none, and the recipe said plain will do) on my chopping board, and made a well in the middle. A well that was too small to contain all 3 eggs that I cracked into it, and I lost a load of it when the dam broke. Egg can travel downwards at an alarming speed, apparently. And is hard to clean up - TOP TIP is to cover the spilled white with salt, to dehydrate it and make it less slippy.

Crisis over, I used a blunt knife to gradually pull flour into what was left of the eggy mixture until there was a springy dough and lots of flour left over. Like so.


Next, rolling out. In lieu of a pasta machine a rolling pin is actually fine, even with my weedy arms. You have to roll it as thin as possible, until you can see your fingers through it.

For ravioli I then used a glass to cut out lots of circles, and put dabs of filling in the centre of each circle.



The filling was made from 1 roasted butternut squash, 2 cloves of roasted garlic, salt, nutmeg and a nob of butter, all mashed up together.



I used some water to moisten the top half of each ravioli circle, then folded them into a half-moon to encase the filling safely.



I dusted each ravioli in flour and sealed properly using a fork.


Then, into the boiling water with them for 3 minutes only.

This is what they looked like when they came out - glistening and wet, and more like pierogies than any ravioli I've ever had.



But with a coating of butter melted with chopped garlic, and a drizzle of single cream, and served with tenderstem broccoli, it was a most delicious meal, even if not most beautiful.

Maybe the ravioli was insulted by being called a dumpling. Call it a dumpling, you get a dumpling. Still, it was tasty-good.