In the kitchen with
Max La Manna

Imagine digging into a plate of caramelised butternut squash and freshly made stuffed mushroom ravioli that’s been smothered in a creamy butternut squash sauce. This is what Max La Manna is serving as the main course in the second episode of Imagine5’s video series celebrating seasonal plant-based dishes using ingredients that are always left behind.

Instructions

To make:

1. First make the pasta. Add the flour to a bowl or a stand mixer, along with the turmeric and a pinch of salt, and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the aquafaba. Use a fork to draw it together. Don’t worry if it looks a little dry, it’ll come together – trust me! Use your hands to knead the mixture, then tip it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a further 5-10 minutes until you have a super soft ball of dough. Place in a bowl, cover with a damp clean tea towel and set aside.

2. Make the mushroom filling. Add the mushrooms to a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the mushrooms for 5–10 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden, and all their liquid has evaporated from the pan. Add olive oil, plant-based butter, a generous pinch of salt, garlic and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Tip into a bowl with the vegan cream cheese and lemon zest, stirring to combine. Pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill your pasta.

3. Make the butternut squash sauce. Cut both butternut in half. Cut one half into cubes. For the cubed pieces, add olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg and smoked paprika. The remaining butternut is going to get blended, but first, drizzle a bit of olive oil and a pinch salt. Roast in the oven at 180C fan for 30 minutes. Add the roasted large pieces of butternut to a high-speed blender with the olive oil, tofu, parsley, the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tahini, Dijon mustard and nutmeg. Blitz until smooth, set aside and keep warm.

4. Line a tray with a little flour or semolina and lightly flour the work surface. Cut the pasta dough into quarters. Take one quarter and roll through your pasta-making machine – you want to take it to 2–3mm thickness, so it’s thick enough to hold the filling. Roll to a sheet approx. 40cm long, then cut the sheet into 3 rectangles on the work surface.

5. For each rectangle, add 1-2 heaped tablespoons of the filling on one side, leaving a generous border, then fold the other side over and press to seal with your fingers. Use a knife to cut rustic shapes of your ravioli. Set aside on the lined tray to slightly dry for a few minutes and repeat with the other rectangles, making 3 large ravioli per person. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Tip: When you seal the pasta, make sure to press around the filling to release any air otherwise it could burst openas it cooks.

6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. While it’s coming to the boil, add the 4 tablespoons of olive oil to a large frying pan over a high heat. Add sage leaves and fry for 1 minute on each side until crispy.

7. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes, until soft, then use a slotted spoon to remove.

8. Spread the butternut squash sauce onto the base of the plate. Top with the pasta and spoon over the cubed butternut squash pieces, the leftover pangrattato from episode one and crispy sage leaves.

Fun fact: The first time I made pasta I was 5 years old, then I didn’t make it for another 20 years.

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