Four generations of Arner women have made ravioli at Moonstone Farm. The children — Hazel Grace and Arlo — are in charge of kneading the dough and cranking the manual pasta machine. Their mother, Malena, grandmother, Audrey, and great-grandmother, Mary Jane, mix the ingredients for the dough and fillings, feed the dough into the machine, and slice the raviolis with a pasta cutter.
Ravioli-making is a post-Thanksgiving tradition at Moonstone Farm because it’s a cozy retreat from the cold Minnesota prairie and a great use of leftover squash and the last sprigs of arugula from their garden. Audrey freezes the ravioli until the next family gathering, Christmas Eve dinner, when they eat the butternut squash ravioli in a simple butter or olive oil sauce, and the ricotta and arugula ravioli in tomato sauce.
Pasta Dough:
4 large eggs
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups semolina flour, plus more as needed (Ms. Arner prefers Bob’s Red Mill)
2 teaspoons sea salt
Butternut Squash Filling:
1 1/2 cups cooked and pureed butternut squash
2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter
Pinch ground nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ricotta and Arugula Filling:
1 1/4 cups ricotta
1/4 cup finely chopped arugula
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Additional melted butter, for brushing pasta
1. To make the dough, place the eggs and water in a 4-quart mixing bowl; add the semolina and stir until incorporated. Continue adding semolina 1/8 cup at a time until you have a firm but pliable dough. Knead pasta 5 minutes, then place it in a plastic bag or wrap in plastic and let rest at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the fillings. To make the butternut squash filling, in a medium bowl, combine the butternut squash, melted butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. To make the ricotta and arugula filling, in a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, arugula, salt, and pepper.
3. Divide dough into 24 parts. Flatten each part into a rectangle. Using a manual pasta machine at the widest setting, roll pasta into sheets. Drop filling by scant teaspoonfuls on sheet, spacing mounds 1 1/2 inches apart along two rows, for a total of 12 mounds per sheet. Brush pasta edges and between mounds of filling lightly with melted butter. Cover with second pasta sheet, pressing down around filling to seal. Using a pastry wheel, cut pasta between filling, trimming sides to form 1 1/2 to 2-inch ravioli. Repeat with more pasta and remaining filling.
4. Transfer ravioli to a floured baking sheet; let dry for at least 30 minutes. To freeze the ravioli, let dry overnight before freezing on baking sheets. Once frozen, ravioli can be transferred to a plastic bag. Frozen ravioli keeps for up to 6 weeks.
5. To cook the ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Working in batches of about 30 ravioli at a time and lifting cooked ravioli out with a slotted spoon, cook ravioli until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and serve with melted butter or sauce of choice.
Yield: Makes about 144 ravioli.
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