Name: Squash, Prosciutto, and Parmesan Filling for Pasta
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 2 acorn squash , small (about 1 1/2 pounds), halved and seeded; 1/4 pound prosciutto , minced fine; 1 egg yolk; 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves; 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

Why This Recipe Works

We wanted a fresh pasta recipe that could be used to create a variety of filled pasta shapes. We found that the food processor kneaded our simple dough, made with just flour and eggs, almost to perfection. Kneading the dough by hand for an additional minute or two made our pasta dough silky and smooth. Running the dough, in pieces, through a manual pasta machine until it was translucent gave us the delicate egg pasta recipe we were after.

Before You Begin

Fresh sage perfumes this autumnal stuffing that is best paired with the brown butter sauce. Other hard squash or pumpkin also work well in this filling. You can also substitute frozen pureed squash for the fresh squash. Two 12-ounce packages of frozen squash cooked over medium heat for 10 minutes (to thicken the squash puree) yields about two cups, more than the one and one-half cups you'll need in this recipe.

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash, cut sides down, on a small baking sheet; bake until tender, about 35 minutes. Cool squash, then scoop out the flesh (about 1 1/2 cups).

Mix squash with remaining ingredients; set aside. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight.)