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Pumpkin and Sage Pasta Sauce with Pine Nuts
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St. John
 
3 cloves garlic, minced
½  onion, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½  cup vegetable broth
½  cup soy milk
1 ½  cups pumpkin, canned or pre-cooked
1 ¼  teaspoon sage
Salt and pepper to taste
½  cup  toasted pine nuts
2 whole sage leaves per serving, frizzled
A knob of butter
 
 
Peel then cut into squares and cook the pumpkin until tender.  Purée in a blender until smooth.  In a kettle over medium heat, sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil for 3-5 minutes or until translucent.   Reduce to low heat and add the vegetable broth, soy milk, pumpkin and ground sage.  Stir to combine ingredients.  Simmer for approximately 8-10 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle.  Add the salt and pepper to taste and the pine nuts.  Stir to combine. 
 
While the sauce is simmering, place the knob of butter in a frying pan and fry the sage leaves for about 30 seconds until crisp.  Set aside for garnish. 
 
 
Serve over agnolotti with the frizzled sage leaves on top.
 
 
Perfect way to spend a cold windy day in a warm kitchen
Agnolotti with Goat Cheese-White Corn stuffing
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St. John
 
Pasta Dough:
? cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 
½ cups plus 2 tablespoons semolina flour 
6 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon milk
Extra all-purpose flour for kneading
 
Mound the flour on pastry table and create a well in the center, pushing the flour to all sides to make a ring with the sides about 1 inch wide. Make sure that the well is wide enough to hold all the eggs without overflowing.
Pour the egg yolks, whole egg, oil and milk into the well. Use your fingers to break the eggs up. Continue using your fingers to begin turning the eggs in a circular motion.  Stay inside the well. Do not allow the liquids to spill over the sides. This circular motion allows the eggs to gradually pull in flour from the sides of the well. Do not incorporate the flour too quickly or your dough will be lumpy. Keep moving the eggs while slowly incorporating the flour. Use a pastry scraper to occasionally push the flour toward the eggs.  The flour should be moved only enough to maintain the gradual incorporation of the flour, and the eggs should continue to be contained within the well. The mixture will thicken and eventually get too tight to keep turning with your fingers.
When the dough begins thickening and starts lifting itself from the slab, begin incorporating the remaining flour with the pastry scraper by lifting the flour up and over the dough that’s beginning to form and cutting it into the dough. When the remaining flour from the sides of the well has been cut into the dough, the dough will still look shaggy. Bring the dough together with the palms of your hands and form it into a ball. It will look flaky but will hold together.
Knead the dough by pressing it, bit by bit, in a forward motion with the heels of your hands rather than folding it over on itself as you would with a bread dough. Re-form the dough into a ball and repeat the process several times. The dough should feel moist but not sticky. Let the dough rest for a few minutes while you clean the work surface.
Dust the work surface with a little flour. Knead the dough by pushing against it in a forward motion with the heels of your hands. Form the dough into a ball again and knead it again. Keep kneading in this forward motion until the dough becomes silky smooth. The dough is ready when you can pull your finger through it and the dough wants to snap back into place. The kneading process can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Even if you think you are finished kneading, knead it for an extra ten minutes.  You cannot over-knead this dough. It is important to work the dough long enough to pass the pull test; otherwise, when it rests, it will collapse.
Double-wrap the dough in plastic wrap to ensure that it does not dry out. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before rolling it out. The dough can be made a day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before proceeding.
 
 
Filling:
1 cup heavy cream
4 ears (2 cups) white corn, grated
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ounce goat cheese
3 ounces mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
 
 Bring the cream to a boil, in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Reduce to 1/3 cup.  Stir in the corn, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring the mixture to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Continue to cook until the mixture reduces and is thick enough to heavily coat the spoon. 
Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the cheeses and mix until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Place bowl over ice bath to allow filling to set.
 
Agnolotti:
10 sheets of 6x12 home made pasta dough
Semolina for dusting
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
Water for cooking pasta
Salt
 
Lightly flour your pastry table or slab and roll out the pasta sheets as thinly as possible. With a pastry bag, pump out little dollops of filling about 1-inch apart in 2 rows. Beat the egg in the tablespoon of water, brush around mounds with eggwash. Cut the pasta sheet in half between the rows, lengthwise. Fold the dough over the filling and squeeze dough together between mounds. With a serrated pasta cutter, cut away excess dough lengthwise; there should be no more than 1/4-inch around the edges. Cut individual agnolottis crosswise and pinch with a fork to decoratively seal. 

 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the agnolotti in boiling water until al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and toss gently in the pumpkin pasta sauce.
 
Garnish with the frizzled sage.

 


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