Our Mother Mary and Meatless Monday

Today is the Feast day of the Immaculate Conception.  We will go to church and celebrate the Holy Mary who we believe to be the Mother of God.

Many people believe that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Christ but, in fact, it references the conception of Mary who was later born without sin.  The Feast day celebrating Mary's birth is held on September 8th, nine months from now.

We honor and glorify Mary for her willingness to obey God's commands and give birth to his only begotten son, which makes this a very important Feast in the Catholic faith.  We are going to Mass this evening as it is a Holy Day of Obligation.

That means we had an early dinner this evening.  Today is Meatless Monday and a short while back I was reading Ree Drummonds blog "Pioneer Woman" and she had posted a recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli.    Ree's recipe sounded delicious and I am sure it is...all her food is delicious, however, true to form, I took her recipe and ran with it.  My recipe doesn't much resemble hers at all but it turned out wonderfully and I think you will enjoy it.

I started out following Ree's recipe and then I spotted some Ricotta Cheese in the fridge.

So, of course, I had to add it. 

I used half pumpkin puree and half ricotta cheese for the filling.

I just place the wontons wrappers out and do a little assembly line.

Once I put a dollop of filling on each, I brush the edges with egg.

Then I place a top layer on and seal it shut by pressing with my fingers.

Then I use a round cutter to further seal them and make them look pretty.

In February, I use a heart cutter....isn't that special??

1/2 went onto this cookie sheet and into the freezer.

Once they were frozen, they got put into a ziploc bag for another night.

I put a large pot of salted water on to boil and threw together the sauce while waiting.

Ree served her ravioli with a browned butter sauce, pine nuts and sage (YUM).

I had some pesto in the refrigerator that I had pulled from the freezer for my Puff Pastry Salmon last week, so I made a sauce using some of that.

Drop the Ravioli into a pot of boiling water and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

Toss them into the sauce and sprinkle with some Parmesan Cheese.

Dinner is Served.

Pumpkin and Cheese Ravioli
very loosly adapted from Pioneer Woman

2 T. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. pumpkin puree
8 oz. Ricotta Cheese
dash of salt
dash of chili powder
44 Wonton Wrappers
1 egg, beaten

Sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. pesto
1/2 c. half and half
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

In large saute pan, melt butter over med high heat.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add the pumpkin puree, ricotta cheese, salt and chili powder.  Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place 22 wonton wrappers on the counter and place a dollop of the pumpkin mixture in the middle.  I used my small cookie scoop.  Brush the edges of the wonton with the beaten egg.  Lay the remaining wonton wrappers over the first with the filling and press with your fingers to seal the edges.  Cut the ravioli into desired shape using a biscuit or cookie cutter, or not...you can just leave them as they are.

Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat so it is a gentle boil.  Then drop in the ravioli and cook for 2-3 minutes.

While waiting for the water to boil you can make the sauce of your choice.  For my sauce, I melted two  T. of butter in a sauce pan, added the pesto and cream and cooked it over low heat, stirring occasionally until the ravioli were cooked.  I then tossed the ravioli with the sauce in the saucepan before transferring it to pasta bowls and topping with Parmesan Cheese.  Print Recipe