Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• Great to use on a variety of pasta dishes!
• Creamy rosemary sauce is incredibly delicious!
• Easy recipe to make
• Great recipe for autumn or winter
• Not super heavy

The Perfect Creamy Sauce for Butternut Squash Ravioli

Butternut squash ravioli have become popular enough that you should be able to find pre-made butternut squash ravioli locally in your grocery stores (such as Trader Joe's butternut squash ravioli). They are a delicious alternative to meat-stuffed ravioli or the common cheese-stuffed ravioli and can be enjoyed all year long. To elevate this dish, make homemade butternut squash ravioli from scratch!

Ingredients

Here is what you need to make this recipe:

• White wine: The first liquid building block to the sauce, we like a dry, but flavorful white wine such as a pinot grigio.
• Shallot: The delicate onion-y flavor works perfectly in a cream sauce
• Black Peppercorns: Quality whole black peppercorns are used at the beginning of the sauce to infuse flavor 
• Rosemary: Fresh rosemary is used twice, as a whole sprig in the beginning of the sauce and finely chopped at the end.
• Vegetable Stock: Use a good quality vegetable stock with as little salt added as possible. We like to make our own, but store bough works well too.
• Heavy Cream: We use a good quality heavy cream as this is the base of the sauce.
• Parmesan Cheese: A little freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano is added to the sauce for flavor and helps to thicken the sauce. We highly encourage you to buy the real deal parmigiano-reggiano and grate it fresh into the sauce.
• Black Pepper: Just a touch for flavor.
• Kosher Salt: The last ingredient added to the sauce to taste.
• Butternut Squash Ravioli: These are widely available or you can make your own homemade butternut squash ravioli from scratch if you wish! We always encourage making fresh pasta over store-bought versions.
• Butter: Unsalted butter is used to toast the panko breadcrumbs to top the finished dish.
• Panko Breadcrumbs: We use these for a nice texture and flavor addition on top of the final plated dish. Panko breadcrumbs add the perfect crunch!

See recipe card below for quantities.

Substitutions

Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

• Shallot: Onion can be subbed in place of shallot. We prefer the more delicate flavor of shallot in a sauce like this, but onion works too.
• Rosemary: A good substitute for rosemary that keeps the fall and winter flavors going is fresh sage leaves. You can also try this with fresh thyme for a less assertive herb flavor.  
• Vegetable Stock: Although we prefer vegetable stock, a lighter chicken stock also can be used here.
• Butternut Squash Ravioli: ​This sauce is fantastic on a variety of ravioli flavors, including pumpkin ravioli, cheese, or meat filled ravioli. Give it a try with your favorites!

How to Make Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce

This sauce requires a few more steps than just throwing everything into a pan and cooking it, but the steps make the flavor and texture perfect without taking too much time.

Equipment

Here is what you need to make this dish

• Large pot to boil the ravioli
• Small pan for the breadcrumbs
• Large saute pan for the sauce
• Mesh strainer

Reduce the wine with flavorings

• In a large pan over medium heat, add the wine, shallot, rosemary sprig and peppercorns. Reduce until there is about 1 Tablespoon of liquid remaining in the pan. This should take about 3-5 minutes.

Add the stock, reduce, strain, and reduce more

• Add the vegetable stock and reduce by half. Once reduced, strain out the solids from the sauce and discard them. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce until there are about 2-3 Tablespoons of liquid remaining. This step should take about 15 minutes. 

Add the cream and reduce

• Add the cream to the pan, stir well and continue to cook over medium-low heat. Reduce the cream for a few minutes stirring occasionally while the pasta cooks.

Cook the Ravioli

• In a large pot of boiling, salted water (about 2-3 tablespoon of salt), add the ravioli and cook until they the pasta floats. Depending on the size and if they are fresh homemade ravioli, or frozen pre-made ravioli, this can take between 2 and 5 minutes for al dente pasta, but follow the cooking instructions on the package if using store-bought ravioli.

Toast the breadcrumbs

• In a small pan, add 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Add the breadcrumbs and, stirring often, cook until lightly browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside to cool and drain off excess butter. 

Finish the sauce and complete the dish

• Add the finely chopped rosemary, Parmesan, and white pepper to the cream sauce. When it is the desired thickness, taste and add kosher salt if needed. Transfer the cooked ravioli from the pot of boiling water and put them in the pan with the sauce. Gently coat the ravioli then transfer to serving plates or bowls. Top with the toasted panko and serve!

Variations

Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:

• Although this cream sauce is especially good with this ravioli recipe, it is also great on any pasta!
• You can add an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce with the cream if you want a bit of tomato flavor added into the sauce. This will take away from some of the other flavors, but will still be delicious and beautiful.

Storage

How to store leftover butternut squash ravioli and cream sauce:

• Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4 days

How to reheat leftover butternut squash ravioli and cream sauce:

• Very gently heat the leftovers on low heat in a pan. Reheat the ravioli until warmed through. 

Can you freeze leftover butternut squash ravioli with the sauce?

• This can be done, but freezing cream sauces will generally result in an inferior result when thawing and reheating.

Troubleshooting

Sauce too thick: If you over-reduce your cream sauce and it ends up being too thick, the best way to thin it out is to simply add some of the pasta water. Remember that the pasta cooking water is salted, so if you need to add pasta water to thin out your sauce, do it before you add any additional salt to taste.

Sauce too thin: ​If your cream sauce seems too thin, continue to reduce over medium-low heat until the desired thickness is reached.

What to serve with Butternut Squash Ravioli

This is fantastic all on its own. But a nice salad is a good compliment as is some crusty bread to soak up the extra sauce! If you like a green vegetable, peas, asparagus or green beans are nice simple vegetables to serve.

What Wines To Drink with Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce

Pinot Grigio or chardonnay are our first choices. If you like bubbles, champagne or any sparkling wine will work as well. We really don’t recommend a red wine with this dish.