Tag: fresh ravioli
Fresh Tomato Ravioli with Pesto Green Beans
I made this meal on a Monday- the beginning of the week is extremely busy for me. I have lots of chores and my daughter has piano and ballet back to back. By the time we get home it is six o’clock and she is famished and wants dinner right away. I try to have something ready for her as we enter the house. I mostly make something ahead of time and heat it up as we walk in.
I bought fresh raviolis and green beans from the super market and I already had fresh tomato sauce in the fridge. I decided to cook the raviolis simply in the tomato sauce and serve them with the green beans sauteed in basil pesto- yes I had pesto in the fridge as well.
It was an easy and fast meal. I sauteed the beans in a little olive oil and cooked them till they were tender with a crunch. I then added the pesto and turned the heat off. It was a simple side dish with a lot of flavor.
I cooked the raviolis in lots of salted water (fresh pasta takes all of a few minutes to cook) and transferred them over to the simmering tomato sauce- thats it.. dinner was ready.
I love taking help from the store when it comes to fresh pasta. It is great to make it at home but obviously it is a bit time consuming and definitely not conducive for a weeknight meal.
It was a quick dinner followed by bedtime for my daughter and a glass of wine for me once she was down.
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Paola’s Fresh Tomato Sauce with Fresh Broccoli Rabe Ravioli
I have wanting to make this sauce since we returned from Italy. This was one of the dishes Paola made in our kitchen at the apartment. She started by buying the most beautiful red tomatoes I have seen. The sauce itself doesn’t really have many ingredients. Good tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil (from her back yard), garlic and salt. The reason the sauce and pasta were so good- the ingredients were impeccable. My daughter who doesn’t like chunky sauces thought it was the best pasta she had ever tasted.
Once we got home, I started thinking how to replicate this sauce. I can’t compete with those tomatoes and the ultra fresh extra virgin olive oil. I bought a few heirloom tomatoes, some baby roma tomatoes (plum) and I had a bunch from my backyard. I cut all of them up and cooked them with olive oil and garlic. I cooked them for a while till the tomatoes began to break down and soften. Instead of serving the sauce with linguine like Paola did, I decided to buy fresh raviolis from Whole Foods- I found broccoli rabe raviolis. I was very excited about them since broccoli rabe is one of my favorite ingredients.
Since I was serving the sauce with the raviolis, I decided to smooth it out in a food mill. Once that was done, I noticed all the seeds- the sauce looked rustic and it was fine, but I decided to add another step and strained it. Out came the most luscious, delicious sauce I have ever made. It was totally worth the extra work.
The ravioli dish was a big success. Everyone really enjoyed it and there was no left over. My plan is to buy 5 or 6 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and make a big batch of tomato sauce before the season is over. I can enjoy it in the winter season and look forward to summer again!
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