simple ravioli sauce
When dr bob was a kid, ravioli came in a big tall can with tomato sauce. It
was called Chef Boyardee, almost synonymous with ravioli for us, and it was
filled with beef and cheese. In the 1950s, there was no widespread highbrow
notion of "pasta", although we dr bob siblings did not stoop to the level of
"spaghettiOs" (ring spaghetti in a can, more tomato sauce). Fortunately bob's
life intersected Italy along the way and he learned what real ravioli were and
the delicious ways in which they could be served. And the American market grew up to offer relatively
high quality ravioli with interesting fillings in ordinary supermarkets. This time it was
a new healthy market store Mom's in Bryn Mawr where our legendary Borders Books
and Records used to be once upon a time which supplied us with a two person portion size: 8
oz of garlic gorzonzola filled spinach ravioli.
Often we just do a simple sage butter sauce to serve already prepared
ravioli, but this time Ani was inspired and she kicked it up a notch while still
keeping it simple. A little mascarpone and pasta water for the base, seasoned
with sauteed chopped shallots and a hit of hot red pepper flakes, and topped off
with toasted pine nuts, freshly chopped parsley, and of course freshly grated
parmigiano. The mascarpone idea came from GiadaAni often has a small
container in the fridge to combine a bit with a pasta sauce.
This turned out really well, unexpectedly for bob who already had started
chowing down before it occurred to him that a photo was called for. This turns
out to be really photogenic as well.
ingredients
- 8 oz good quality ravioli, yes from a store
- 1 shallot, chopped [or 1 small leek]
- 2 T olive oil
- 1/4 t red pepper flakes
- 1/3 c mascarpone, at room temperature
- some reserved pasta water, as needed
- 1/3 c pine nuts, toasted
- freshly chopped parsley
- optional lemon zest from half a lemon to kick up the flavor a bit
- abundant freshly grated parmigiano
instructions
- Toast the pine nuts in a nonstick skillet. Set aside.
- Prepare the shallot and saute it in olive oil until translucent, then add the
red pepper flakes to taste.
- Stir in the mascarpone and some pasta water over low heat to make it
come together in a "sauce".
- Meanwhile cook the ravioli according to package directions and drain or
scoop out of the pot into the sauce pan.
- Coat the ravioli with the sauce and remove from the heat.
- Then mix in the parmigiano, parsley and pinenuts. Serve while hot.
notes
- Chef Boyardee
ravioli?
- SpaghettiOs?
- Mom's Organic Market arrived
in Bryn Mawr in 2014.
- Soon after ani did another simple sauce, this time for portobello
mushroom and truffle filled ravioli, with a slight edge from some red pepper
flakes:
1 chopped shallot, sauteed in olive oil with just a touch of red
pepper flakes, then add 1/3 c heavy cream, 4 chopped scallions, salt and
pepper to taste, some reserved pasta water, then the cooked ravioli and a
nice hit of grated parmigiano, and some chopped fresh parsley. No photo
taken, but it was really tasty.
-
Wegman's 12 oz Red Beet and Cheese Mezzalune (a mix of 5 cheeses) is a
great product to use this recipe on. Mezzaluna is a semicircle shaped
ravioli.
- Illustrations available.