Pumpkin in Pasta…Another Good Food Decision

I don’t know how I have waited over an entire week to write about this, but last Tuesday I went to Via Emilia (http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?neighborhoodid=0&restaurantid=5183) as part of my quest to hit all 101 Best Cheap Eats from New York Magazine. Once at the restaurant, I learned about the greatness of tortelloni, described as tortellini’s ‘supersize cousin.’ My friend and I ordered it in two forms (spinach and ricotta and pumpkin in sage and butter sauce) and switched plates half way through. I think that the spinach is more famous, but the pumpkin was the star. I have tried butternut squash tortellini in a similar sage and butter sauce before, but I loved the pumpkin. It tastes extra decadent-sweet from the pumpkin filling and silky from the homemade pasta dough with a hint of salt from the butter sauce. The place is cash only and the service was a little lacking, but the food is soooo incredible as to warrant more than one repeat visit.