Butternut Squash over Ravioli 

So I have a couple new recipes to add this morning. 

Once upon a time, like 3 and a half years ago I went on this date (The guy was A JERK, an unpleasant person to be around in case you were wondering)and I ordered cheese ravioli with a butternut squash sauce poured over the top. It, not the man, was divine! Great flavor, awesome texture. Anyways, I've thought about duplicating it a million times but haven't ever gotten around to it, until last week.

I read a bunch of recipes for the sauce but none of them seemed like the one in the restaurant. Many of them included things like cinnamon, nutmeg those types of spices, which may totally appeal to you, but that wasn't the flavor I was going for this time. If you are interested though, pinterest has quite a few like that. In the end, I decided I'd have to come up with my own. I have to say, it turned out REALLY yummy! The texture wasn't quite right which I think is because I added a bit of ricotta cheese which I will probably not add next time. The flavor however, was awesome, so I thought I'd share!

The first thing I did was to roast the squash in the oven. First I brushed some butter over the top, added salt, pepper and popped it in. 

 I baked it at 425 for probably a half hour. Basically until it was soft and mash-able, like a potato. 

Great color, right?

 So then you scoop out the middle. I used an ice cream scoop, which worked great.

Now while the squash was roasting in the oven I had cut up a medium onion, garlic, some basil and a little more butter and had sate'd them till they were very sweet and almost too done. I really wanted a sweet onion caramelized flavor which I've found usually comes after they have been in the pan for a good long while. 

So once all the yellowy goodness of the squash had been scooped out I combined them both in a pan, added a little bit of milk, and some ricotta cheese (which it didn't need). I blended it up with my stick blender which is SUPER awesome for sauces (I hate cleaning blenders, I don't know what it is) and there you have it!

The ravioli we used was a spinach cheese ravioli we purchased at Winco. Nothing hugely special, but we do prefer the refrigerated stuff over the frozen if you've never purchased it before.

I know this one looks gross, but that dark stuff is some balsamic vinegar I drizzled (in a not pretty way apparently) on top. It tasted awesome!
Craig and Grace both loved this recipe which is always a plus, and if I'd had any clue how easy it was I would have made it along time ago! Also, if you are just cooking for 2-4, 1 butternut squash will make quite a bit. We have 2 small bags in the freezer that I am saving for a rainy day. Or for a day when I have too much homework, as the case is more likely to be with me. ;)
Enjoy!