Ingredients
- 1 small sugar pumpkin, or butternut or acorn squash (about 1 pound)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ recipe Basic Pasta Dough
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- 1 large Amaretti Cookie
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut pumpkin or squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds; place on a baking sheet cut side up and drizzle with olive oil. Transfer to oven and roast until very soft, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool; scoop out flesh from skin.
- In a large bowl, combine cooled squash, cheese, nutmeg, and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; stir well to combine filling.
- Set the rollers of a hand-cranked or electric pasta machine at their widest opening. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a large egg, and flatten it with the palms of your hands. Keep the rest of the dough wrapped in plastic. Dust the small piece of dough lightly with flour, and run it once through the machine. Fold the dough in half, pressing it down with your fingertips, and run through the machine again. Repeat this step four or five times, dusting lightly with flour if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Now change the rollers of the pasta machine to a decreasing setting, and roll out the dough once without folding. Keep rolling the sheet through the machine on decreasing settings until you have rolled it through the last (thinnest) setting. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out circles of dough. Pipe or carefully spoon a rounded teaspoon filling into the center of half of the dough rounds. Cover filling with remaining dough rounds and press edges firmly together to seal.
- Bring 6 quarts water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add pasta and cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter stops foaming, add 2 tablespoons pasta cooking water; whisk until emulsified. Drain pasta and add to skillet. Add sage leaves and toss gently until pasta is coated with sauce, about 1 minute. Divide pasta evenly between 4 plates. Serve immediately garnished with freshly grated cheese and amaretti.