Tag: ravioli
Ravioli with a Tomato and Anchovy Sauce
I love, love anchovies… most people think they don’t like them, like my husband and daughter…I didn’t tell them this sauce had anchovies in them and they loved it! Anchovies bring that delicious umami flavor into any dish… so next time don’t shy away from them!
- 3 to 4 anchovy filets
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium shallots, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 cups fresh homemade tomato sauce or a 28 ounces can of crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup half and half
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- ½ cup basil, chopped
- Salt
- 1 pound ravioli (I cooked mushroom ravioli) with ½ cup pasta water spare
Heat a wide frying pan with the anchovy filets. Let them melt over medium heat for a minute or so. Add the butter, oil, shallots and garlic. Saute over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat. Add the half and half, cheese and basil. Check for seasonings and add salt. Add the cooked ravioli into the heated sauce plus any pasta water if needed. Garnish with extra cheese on top.
Cappadocia – Day 1
This trip to Turkey has been absolutely delightful. Not only is it a great place to visit as far as sights are concerned, it is also a great place for food.. the wine is yummy and very importantly, the people are very friendly and helpful.
Day five or day one in Cappadocia started with a yummy breakfast filled with coffee, cheeses, fruit and eggs. We got in our car and headed to an open air museum on Goreme consisting of amazing landscape filled with rocks and churches carved in. It was an amazing experience visiting this place. After a lot of walking, hiking and stopping for Turkish ice cream, we headed to the town of Goreme for some late lunch. We found a restaurant called Old Cappadocia Cafe. It was a great place to sit outside and enjoy the sun and good weather. We started with the most delicious Turkish lavash with some tomato spread and a yogurt and mint spread.
Tomato Spread
We proceeded to order lamb chops, small raviolis in a yogurt garlic sauce and some beef kebabs.
Lamb Chops
Ravioli with Yogurt and Garlic
With our stomachs full of good food and wine, we went for a long drive taking in all the beautiful landscape all around us. We stopped at a huge rug warehouse and bought some beautiful rah rah kilims. We then came back to our hotel and explored the town of Urgup, which was beautiful and quaint. We did some more shopping and realized just how friendly the people were!
It was time to have a snack consisting of some kebabs and lots of dessert. We proceeded to a dessert place and got a variety. We went back to our hotel, very happy and looking forward to our hot balloon ride tomorrow early morning!!!
Turkish Rice Pudding
Pistachio Baklava
Chestnut Pastry
Walnut Baklava & Cream Filled Baklava
Pasta with Swiss Chard, Corn and Pancetta
This pasta came about after my daughter brought a bunch of vegetables home from the farmer’s market at their school. It is a great program to introduce kids to different fruits and vegetables. Kids are more likely to eat the vegetables when they make the choice themselves.
They will also be more interested in maybe helping at home to cook the veggies for dinner.
In my case I had a bunch of lovely swiss chard and some corn. I decided to make a pasta dish. I had a stuffed pasta in the freezer I purchased at Eataly in NYC.
I sauteed some pancetta and added shallots and garlic. I then added the fresh corn, some fresh tomato sauce and the swiss chard. It was super simple and very delicious. I cooked the tiny pasta and added some pasta water into the sauce. A few minutes later I had a delicious, healthy- farm to table food.
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Day Seven- Without Big Plans….
Day seven began a little different. We decided to go out for breakfast instead of eating in. We went to a local cafe- Tullia. I think we were looking forward to something savory with our tea and cappuccino but we soon found out they only served sweet pastries and croissants. I settled on marmalade croissant and a cappuccino. The croissant was okay but the cappuccino was out of this world.
We then walked around Spello some more and went back to another cafe with great views of the town. There we shared sandwiches and pizza and some white wine.
The plan was to go to Gubbio and possibily Orvieto. Both towns seemed very interesting and lovely from the descriptions. We took small roads there instead of the highway- beautiful hills and valleys. We drove into the outskirts of Gubbio and saw as usualy, no one was there- we always end up visiting these towns between 2 PM and 4 PM- siesta time. Anyway, we walked around a bit and decided to go back.
I wanted to go back to Spello and buy things to take home. I bought white and black truffle paste, honey, pecorino and parmesan cheese and a blasamic glaze. 
We also bought 3 wines from the Sportoletti winery and a bottle of organic extra virgin olive oil.
I am so excited to come home and try some recipes and use these ingredients.
Laziness was the word of the day. We headed back and shared a bottle of white wine and anticipated dinner. The winery owner had recommended a restaurant in another town. We found the place after a lot of driving and searching. We were very excited and hopeful of the food but were quite disappointed. I think this was our first mediocre meal in Italy. We had ravioli, gnocchi and a few meats. It was nothing special at all. We were quite disappointed since all our other meals had been above average.
We drove back determined to make the next day- our last day- a good one. We leave for Rome this morning and stay the night before we head home to Maplewood. I will report on our Rome adventures tomorrow- stay tuned!
Sausage Vodka Sauce with Cheese Ravioli
I love vodka sauce, usually with some prosciutto and peas- that is your typical vodka sauce preparation. I wanted to cook it a little differently and thought of using Italian sausage in the sauce. I crumbled the sausage with the onion and garlic and cook it down so the flavor is present in the sauce. Also most restaurant and store bought vodka sauces have quite a lot of cream. I added half-and-half instead. It gives it the nice pink color and a creamy taste for a lot less calories. For those who are concerned about the vodka in the dish, it cooks off and is safe to serve to the kiddies. It is always nice to take help from the store to make your life easier! So I went to find fresh pasta and thought ravioli should be interesting! I bought some cheese ravioli, but I think you can really play around with the flavors and get whichever one makes you happy. A citrus salad and some more white Portuguese wine made the meal complete!
- 1 package store bought cheese ravioli
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 links Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled or chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons vodka
- 3 tablespoons half and half
- Salt to taste
- Pinch of sugar
- Sprig fresh basil for garnish
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and golden about 4 minutes. Add the vodka and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in the half and half with some salt and sugar. Stir in the basil and remove from heat.
In the meantime, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the cheese ravioli and cook according the box directions. Strain the raviolis and toss with the vodka sauce and sausage mixture. Top with cheese and serve.