Handmade Gluten-free Raviolis with a Butternut Squash Filling

My very first homemade pasta. Quite a success.

Raviolis are a Christmas tradition for my family. Every year, the four of us pack into the car and drive the eight hours from Vermont to Delaware to spend the holidays with my huge Italian family. It's the most fun holiday of the year - packed with loads of delicious food, bottle after bottle of red wine, and a super loud group of fabulous Italians. Really, it couldn't get any better (or traditional) then this.

Christmas with the Leo family means two things: gluten and dairy. Yes, that's right. The two things that I can no longer enjoy. Last year was my first time spending this holiday with my food sensitivities. It was hard. So very hard. I couldn't enjoy the alfredo sauce, the antipasti, the fried schmelts on Christmas eve. Basically, this whole meal was out for me.

Then there is Christmas day to worry about. We have homemade ravioli - cheese and meat. Made with love by my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins, these raviolis are hands down the best on earth. They're packed with delectable fillings, smothered in my grandmother's famous gravy, with a side of her even more famous meatballs. A serious Italian feast, sadly all filled with gluten and dairy.

So, what's a girl to do? Why not try my own hand at making my all time favorite meal of the holiday season? And so, that's just what I chose to do.

Make my very own handmade raviolis, of course!

I was seriously missing my family with this recipe.

Topped with fresh basil and crushed red peppers, these raviolis were delectable.

Smothered in a dairy-free, vegan cream sauce, this meal couldn't be tastier.

I was on a mission. I'd never made pasta before, let alone raviolis, and knew it was going to be a labor of love. And boy was I right. Raviolis are tough to make! Much harder (and more frustrating) than I could have ever expected. It made me appreciate the hard work my family puts into our Christmas meal each year.

Handmade Gluten-free Raviolis

For this recipe I used a standard gluten-free all purpose flour blend that my natural food store sells in the bulk section. The base is chickpea flour, with a bit of potato starch and rice flour. Sadly, this is not a flour I would ever use again. The dough was heavy and had the hint of a bean taste - not really what I was looking for in my raviolis.

However, I was happy to see that they held together nicely and survived through the boiling. With a super yummy filling, a nice sauce, some fresh herbs and a little kick at the end, these raviolis definitely satisfied my Leo Christmas cravings.

I'm very proud of my first attempt at this Italian classic. Gluten-free raviolis.

Fresh Gluten-free Raviolis.

Pasta is surprisingly simple to make. Just a few ingredients and you have the dough. With a very plain taste, pasta can pretty much go with anything, which is why I decided to spice it up with a butternut squash, kale and hazelnut filling.

ingredients for the pasta:

• 2 1/2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour (look for a brown rice flour base)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 5 eggs
• 1 egg yolk

Measure out the flour and add it to a food processor. Add the salt and eggs and pulse until a thick dough forms. Make sure not to over blend it - dough can get tough very easily. 

Transfer the dough to a gluten-free floured surface. Knead with your hands until you have a soft, well combined pasta dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 20 minutes. I made my filling while the dough rested.

Butternut Squash, Kale and Hazelnut Filling

• 1 1/2 cups pureed butternut squash
• 1/2 bunch dinosaur kale, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• Olive oil

Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan and add onions and garlic. Saute until they are golden brown, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add in the sliced kale and saute until wilted, another 1 - 2 minutes.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth - not totally pureed, but smooth. You want some texture.

A succulent center of these divine gluten-free raviolis.

To make the raviolis, either using a pasta machine (which I don't own) or simply a rolling pin, roll your dough out on a flat surface until it's very thin. Less then 1/8" in thickness if possible. 

With the large sheet of rolled out dough, cut out your ravioli squares (or circles if that's what you prefer). Take one square and add a dollop of filling, wet the edges with your finger and top with another square of dough. With a fork, pinch the edges together. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. 

To cook the raviolis, bring a sauce pan of slightly salted water to boil. Carefully place the raviolis in the boiling water and cook for about 6 -10 minutes (until the dough seems cooked through and they are floating at the top of your pan). Cook them in small batches at a time, about 5 - 6 to a pot. 

Top the raviolis with a yummy sauce (I used almond milk, a touch of brown rice flour and nutritional yeast for a creamy vegan sauce), fresh herbs and crushed red pepper. 

Makes 2 dozen raviolis.

Handmade Gluten-free Raviolis with a Butternut Squash, Kale & Hazelnut Filling

Cooking Notes:

As I mentioned earlier, I would avoid bean based flours. The raviolis far heavier then I wanted and the flour brought a taste that I felt really took away from the taste. Try something that combines softer flours like sorghum or brown rice flour with a mix of tapioca starch.

Rolling out the dough without a pasta machine. This was tough and pretty aggravating. At first, I tried just rolling it on a floured surface. Although I think this would have been fine with a different flour blend, my dough was much too sticky and it totally didn't work. My solution? Split the dough in four pieces and roll out each section between plastic wrap. It worked much better, but took much longer to pull everything together. I must note: this process should be accompanied with a fabulous glass of Pinot Noir... makes the time much more enjoyable!

Cooking time can vary depending on the flour and thickness of the dough. Mine ended up taking about 11 minutes to cook through. I recommend cooking one ravioli before you drop them all in to test the cook time.