Vegan Ravioli (with Butternut Squash Filling)

• Prep a batch of vegan ravioli dough.
  1 batch vegan ravioli dough

Filling

• While the ravioli dough chills, prep the filling and preheat your oven to 350 °F.
• Cube butternut squash and add to a large bowl along with diced onion, minced garlic, dry ground sage, salt, black pepper and olive oil.
  3 cups butternut squash, 1 cup onion, 3 cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon dry ground sage, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Toss the butternut squash with other ingredients into bowl then spread out into a single layer on a parchment paper covered baking tray.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
• Let the butternut squash mixture cool before adding to a food processor with remaining filling ingredients.
  1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 115 grams firm tofu
• Blend together into a smooth filling.

Ravioli Assembly and Cooking

• Remove the prepped ravioli dough from your fridge. Cut the dough roughly in half – one piece should be slightly larger than the other, but not quite a ⅓ to ⅔ ratio.
• Generously flour your countertop/ rolling surface and begin rolling out the smaller piece of ravioli dough. The dough should be stretchy so it takes some work to roll out completely. Add extra sprinkles of flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to counter or rolling pin.
• Keep rolling until the dough is very thin (until you can almost see through the dough).
• Scoop the prepared ravioli filling onto this piece of dough. Each scoop should be around 1 tablespoon in size and spread out giving space around the edges (to press the top and bottom dough pieces together). Ideally, scoop the filling into rows/ a grid pattern.
• On a separate piece of counter, roll out the slightly larger piece of dough. Try to roll into the same shape as the first piece that has the filling on it. Again, be generous with the flour used to prevent the dough from sticking.
• Carefully lift the larger piece of dough and gently place over the scooped ravioli filling on the first piece of dough. Try to allow the dough to fall into the spaces between the ravioli filling – if the filling is in nice rows, allow the top dough piece to fall in between these rows.
• Gently press the top piece of ravioli dough around each scoop of filling. Next, cut the ravioli out by slicing around each piece – if you’ve created rows, make straight cuts along each row.
• Carefully pick up each piece of ravioli, pressing the edges together with a fork so they hold. Set the ravioli aside on a piece of parchment paper (a surface that won’t stick).
• Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, gently add the ravioli (work in batches to not crowd the pot) and boil each piece for 1 minute. I use a slotted spoon to transfer ravioli into and out of the water.
• The ravioli are now ready to be sauced! If the sauce isn’t ready to add the ravioli directly into, place the cooked ravioli onto a piece of parchment paper while you prep the sauce (cooked dough sticks together so keep the pieces separate).

Sauce and Assembly

• Melt vegan butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
  ½ cup vegan butter
• Once melted, add fresh sage leaves and minced garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until fragrant. Keep a close eye on the garlic and sage to prevent it from burning (may need to use a lower heat depending on your stove).
  15-20 fresh sage leaves, 2 cloves garlic
• Once you've cooked the garlic and sage leaves, add chopped cherry tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook until the tomatoes are wilted down.
  2 cups cherry tomatoes, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Stir vegetable broth, salt and black pepper into the sauce.
  ⅔ cup vegetable broth, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• Toss the cooked ravioli into the sauce, covering each piece with sauce. Sautee for a few minutes to heat everything through (also allows sauce to thicken with the starch coming from the pasta dough).