Butternut Squash Pansotti

If you’re going to make one stuffed pasta, this should be it: It takes only one fold to create these triangular packages. Serve in Brown Butter with sage or rosemary leaves, the sauce from Linguine with Garlic and Oil or the sauce from Spaghetti with Butter and Parmesan
or Fettuccine Alfredo

2 cups cooked (preferably baked) butternut squash

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cornmeal or all-purpose flour for dusting

1 recipe Fresh Egg Pasta
or rolled into sheets and kept moist under a towel or plastic wrap

• Puree the squash, preferably by passing it through a food mill or ricer. Combine it in a bowl with the eggs, nutmeg, and some salt and pepper. Taste; if the mixture is not sweet, add a little sugar. Stir in the Parmesan and taste again; add more of any seasoning you like.
• Lightly dust a flat work surface with some cornmeal or flour. Working with a few sheets at a time, cut any length of fresh pasta dough so that it is 4 or 5 inches wide. Cut into 2- to 21/2-inch squares. Brush the dough very lightly with water so it will stick together when you shape the pansotti. Put a rounded teaspoon of stuffing on each square and fold in half to make a triangle, pressing tightly to seal the edges. Put the pansotti on cookie sheets, dusting them with cornmeal and keeping them separate, until you’re ready to cook. (At this point, you can refrigerate the pansotti on the cookie sheets for up to a day or freeze them for up to 3 months.)
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the pansotti, 30 or so at a time, for just a few minutes, until they rise to the surface. Drain, sauce, and serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Pansotti.
• Wonderful boiled and sautéed with extra virgin olive oil and pecans or walnuts (for the technique, see Linguine with Garlic, Oil, and Nuts): Substitute cooked sweet potato for the butternut squash and omit the sugar.

Chestnut Pansotti.
• Perfect with the sauce from Spaghetti with Butter and Parmesan : Substitute cooked, peeled, and crumbled chestnuts for the butternut squash. Add 3 tablespoons minced shallot or onion, if you like, and mix in with the eggs.

MAKES: 4 servings (about 60 pansotti)

TIME: 11/2 hours with prepared pasta sheets