[Zana]

Pumpkin Lunes With Butter and Sage

Adapted from "The Babbo Cookbook," by Mario Batali (Clarkson Potter, 2002)

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

1 small pumpkin or winter squash (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, more for serving
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Basic pasta dough (see recipe, linked at right)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 fresh sage leaves
1 large amaretto cookie or 4 small ones.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, rub flesh with olive oil, and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes or until very soft. Remove from oven, and let cool.

2. Scoop flesh from skin, and place in a large bowl. With a fork, mash to a purée. Add cheese, nutmeg, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper; stir well to combine.

3. Set a pasta-making machine to the thinnest setting, and pass pasta dough through it. With a biscuit cutter or tumbler, cut out 32 3-inch circles from pasta dough. (Gather leftover dough, knead it, and pass it through machine.) Carefully spoon a rounded tablespoon of pumpkin mixture onto center of half of the rounds, and cover with a second pasta round. Press edges together firmly with tines of a fork to seal.

4. Bring 6 quarts of water to boil, and add 1 tablespoon salt. Drop lunes in water, and cook for 2 minutes. While they cook, melt butter in a large sauté pan until it foams. Add 3 tablespoons pasta water to melted butter, and whisk to emulsify. Drain lunes, and add them to butter. Add sage, and toss gently for 1 minute over medium heat to coat pasta with sauce.

5. Divide lunes among 4 warmed plates, grate Parmigiano-Reggiano and amaretto cookie over each plate, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times
Moderator - please move to pumpkin thread, sorry I put it in the wrong one.