Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter

I am going to try to focus on the point of this blog: food and house projects (and some Gertie: so basically, our favorite things). The latest food: Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Ravioli for our dear friends Abby and Adam after they put us up in DC.

Pasta is a labor of love. It's easy but repititious, and it's a perfect 2-person job. Robin and I have fallen hard for the excitement of homemade pasta. So here goes...

For the pasta:
-Approximately 1 egg per serving, and roughly 2/3 cup flour per egg (ie: for this ravioli, 4 people = 4 eggs)
-If you have a kitchenaid, dump eggs and flour in and use a dough hook to mix until dough is "raggy" (Robin's word, and he's the pro).
-Turn onto floured surface and knead well for at least 10 minutes. Add flour as needed. Dough needs to only stick to itself.
-Make a ball, wrap in cellophane, and let rest for 30 minutes.

**Cheater tip: if you don't have a pasta maker, ignore all the pasta making steps and buy wonton wrappers.**

For the filling:
-Roast sweet potatoes in 425 degree oven until soft.
-Let cool, then smash with goat cheese (we used 4 ounces of garlic and herb, but whatever floats your boat). I am of the mindset that you can never have to much goat cheese, so amend according to your goat cheese philosophy. Don't use any if you don't like goat cheese, omit it all together.
-Add spices: for us, black pepper and a tiny bit of nutmeg.

For the sauce:
Super easy, terrible for you, and delicious. Totally my style.

Melt 6 T of butter in a saucepan. Heat until butter is barely starting to brown. Add chopped fresh sage. I added 2 T of heavy cream at the end, but I'd leave that out next time.

Construction:
-Roll out the pasta dough. If you have a pasta maker, you know the drill. We did ours to '8' thinness. If you don't have a pasta maker, you are smart and using wonton wrappers.
-Place dollops of filling on half of pasta sheet (or in the middle of each wonton wrapper).
-Use water to draw around the edge of the filling, then seal, pushing all of the air out.
-Cut ravioli apart using a pizza cutter, then boil for ~4 minutes, or until the ravioli float to the top. The wonton wrappers should take the same amount of time.

Eating:
-Serve with parmesan and more fresh sage.

The photos don't do it justice, but here's another one anyway:

I am sure my arteries are just now recovering from this meal. But it was so, so worth it. And if you wanted to be healthier, you could do olive oil infused with sage. And if you cut out most of the goat cheese, it wouldn't be quite so bad for you. And if you had a good camera, you might have more lovely photos. But if wishes were fishes....