Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

So, I've been trying different brown butter sauces for awhile now and can't say I'm overly impressed with any of them. Are they all kinda blah tasting or is it just me? After some experimentation of combining recipes I've collected, I finally came up with the best brown butter sage sauce recipe I've made to date. I do cheat and use fresh, packaged ravioli but you can of course get ambitious and make your own ravioli, too. I love this recipe because it's got a refreshingly different flavor yet it's easy enough to throw together on a weeknight.

Ingredients
1 package fresh butternut squash ravioli

Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp sage
1/4 tsp black pepper

Toppings

1/4 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano 

1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions

1. Begin cooking ravioli as directed. Toast pine nuts until light golden brown.

2. Melt butter over medium-low heat. Add garlic, salt and onions. Sauté onions until translucent. Keep an eye on the butter and remove from heat when little brown specs appear throughout.

3.  Pour brown butter sauce in a large bowl and add lemon juice, sage, and black pepper.

4. Add pasta and Parmigiano-Reggiano and toss to coat.

5. Top with toasted pine nuts and serve.

Serves: 2-4

Homemade Caramel Dipping Sauce from Sweetened Condensed Milk

Did you know you can make your own caramel dipping sauce from sweetened condensed milk? Neither did I. But it's true. You can make caramel from sweetened condensed milk by just cooking it. It's cheaper than buying ready-made caramel sauce and more convenient since you can store cans of sweetened condensed milk in the cupboard until you're ready to make it into delicious caramel. This has long been a European secret and apparently the U.S. is just finding out about this. (Or at least I am! Ha!)

Enjoy it with ice cream, cheese cake, coffee or make caramel coated apples.

Since the fall season is upon us, I thought this was a great little secret to share. So, if you're in the mood to make some homemade caramel, here's how to do it:

Ingredients
14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Caramel Sauce
1. Place can of sweetened condensed milk in your Crock-Pot.
2. Fill your Crock-Pot up with water until the can is compeltely covered.
3. Cook on low for 6 hours or overnight.
4. Open the can and voilà! It's now delicious caramel!

Caramel-coated Apples
Wash apples then puncture them through the top with sticks of your choice. Aren't the natural sticks in the photo above cute and fun for a fall or Halloween-themed party? (Just make sure the sticks are nice and sturdy and you may need to sharpen the ends to a point with a knife). While caramel sauce is still warm, dip the apples in and completely coat them. Roll in nuts if you desire. Then place the apples, sticks facing up, on a sheet of wax paper and refrigerate overnight or until set.

Yield: Makes enough to coat 5 apples