squash ravioli, butter, scapes, habanada, sage, parmesan

This pasta is a familiar essay around here, in this or similar forms, and it’s an easy one.

And, while I don’t think I’d want to serve this particular filled ravioli in the summer, it’s really satisfying in the fall and winter.

the contents of a 10-ounce package of Rana butternut squash-filled round ravioli, cooked but not quite al dente, introduced to a sauce already composed inside a large antique, tin-lined high-sided thick copper pot in which 4 or 5 chopped small late-season garlic scapes from Berried Treasures Farm had been heated in 3 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ until beginning to soften, to be followed by a bit of home-dried heatless, orange Habanada pepper and a good number of mostly small fresh sage leaves from Phillips Farm, all heated over medium heat until the butter had begun to turn nut-brown and the sage to shrivel, at which time one fourth to one third of a cup of water was added (to halt the browning and to provide more liquid for the sauce) and the mixture stirred, becoming loose and a little soupy, then, now with the pasta included, cooked for only about a minute or so, or until some of the water was absorbed and the pasta perfectly done, after which a third of a cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese from Whole Foods Market tossed in and stirred, making the sauce somewhat creamy, the contents of the pan seasoned liberally with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste, served at the table with more cheese scattered on top

There was a small cheese course, although I didn’t stop to photograph it.

two cheeses, one an aged water buffalo cheese, a really delicious new product from Riverine Ranch, the other Consider Bardwell Farm’s cow cheese, ‘Bardem Blue’
part of a demi baguette from Bread Alone
one very ripe Bartlett pear from Locust Grove Fruit Farm, divided, avoiding the bruises