Cool Autumn Days
Crisp Air, Pretty Leaves, Sweaters & Boots, Football, Pumpkins, and Wine.
I love Fall Time!
With the crisp of fall in the air, and pumpkins popping up on stoops, I am thinking of a comfort food that is warm, filling and so easy to make.
Raffetto's fresh pasta has been around since 1906; making what many say is the best fresh pasta in the NYC metro area. The family tradition is carried on by Sarah, a fourth generation pasta maker, who told me yesterday that I didn't have to come to new York to get their pasta, I could have picked some up at Sobsey's in Hoboken. Still, I was happy to have made the trip to "the chefs' top secret pasta headquarters" and on the ride back I had time to think about the special sauce I would make and what wine I wanted to pair it all with.
The Wine
Roccafiore Rosso Melograno 2013
The grapes for this easy drinking Umbrian red are handpicked and selected in mid September, made from a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Montepulciano. A brilliant ruby colored wine with plum, cherry, and slight sweet tobacco aromas. After bottling, the wine rests for about six months, and flavors of elegant plum, wild red raspberry, develop. This medium bodied wine has fine tannin structure with a soft grip and balanced acidity that combine to give the drinker a pleasant mouth feel and lingering finish. This wine pairing was so good with the pumpkin ravioli it had just the right amount of acid to balance the starch of the pasta and cut through the butter, and temper the pumpkin, allowing the soft earthiness of the sage to shine.
Raffetto's Fresh Pumpkin Ravioli with Butter Sage Sauce
What you will need:
One package of fresh Raffetto's pumpkin ravioli 13oz, (2/3 Servings)
6 tablespoons of the highest quality butter you can buy
6 fresh, whole sage leaves plus 4-6 chopped fresh sage leaves
¼ cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese,
fresh ground black pepper
(optional 1/3 cup pasta cooking water, for a thinner sauce)
How to prepare it:
Brown the butter in the skillet over medium low heat until it just froths, but is not brown (if you haven't done this before err on less is better side, as the butter will continue cooking after you take it off the heat).pour butter in a large bowl, add the sage leaves, letting them soak in the butter for a few seconds, add drained paste and ½ of the cheese and toss the pasta so that it is thoroughly coated, and serve.
(Optional: add reserved pasta cooking water for a thinner consistency) garnish with remaining parmigiano, fresh sage leaves and a sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper.
Serve this with a side of sautéed field greens or fresh salad.
Enjoy!
The Wine Guys