Two Ravioli Recipes..Lobster in Creamy Tomato Sauce and Cheese with Black Truffles and Mushrooms

Lobster Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Sauce Cheese Ravioli with Black Truffles and Mushroom Sauce

Eataly's selection of fresh, stuffed pasta

is hard to beat.One

day I hope I’ll become wildly proficient in making my own Raviolis. For the time being however, I keep thinking

back to my Mother. On the subject of

store-bought substitutes for anything she didn’t have to cook herself, she was

wildly enthusiastic. If you knew my

mother, if only on this blog, you will remember that her philosophy was to

spend the barest amount of time in the kitchen to maximize the time she could spend

at the cocktail hour. She was bold-faced

about this and prone to saying things like: “If that little man at the Italian

market makes ravioli, why on earth would I?

I mean, he would go out of business if all of sudden everyone started

making ravioli. And I would never want

to be a part of that.” So she kept the

Italian market in business. All I am

doing here is picking up her torch, so to speak. Besides,

I very much doubt I can do raviolis better than the ones I’ve bought here. Of course the raviolis at Eataly, the massive

Italian food market at Fifth Avenue and 23rd St. are ne plus ultra. But I don’t turn up my nose at the Fresh

raviolis at Fairway and the cheese ravioli featured in today’s post came fresh

from King Kullen in Bridgehampton. The

Lobster Ravioli came from the shelves of Trader Joe’s. Now you do have to make a sauce, which would

undoubtedly scare my mother off the things permanently. As I have long

since given up two martinis before

dinner, I find the sauce about as easy it gets when you’re getting dinner on

the table.

Not

too long ago, I was at a luncheon where two of the guests, hearing that I’d

been working on mushroom recipes, highly recommended the Black Truffles and

Mushrooms made in Italy by a company called Urbani. Available at Citarella’s, these are hardly a

bargain. The can pictured came in at $9.99.

Since there were only two of us, I didn’t object too much. But if I were feeding four, I might have

second thoughts. In fact, I might have

sautéed some mushrooms and added the Urbanis to those just to save money. But aside from the mushrooms, all you need

is some heavy cream. I’d start the sauce

first because in addition to all the other things to love about store-bought

ravioli, speed is right up there. Fresh

Ravioli cook in 4 to 6 minutes. Ladle

the sauce over them, sprinkled with parmesan and you’ve got dinner on the table

in record time. But one other ingredient

is pretty well essential to this dish: Parsley or some other green or the plate

of ravioli is less than appetizing.

Purple Basil adds fascinating color and basil flavorThe

inspiration for my second ravioli dinner came to me as I perused Trader

Joe’s. Let’s face it, their meat

selection is, at best, minimal. But

across the aisle was a sea of raviolis, tortellinis—all kinds of stuffed

pastas. And there was Lobster

Ravioli. The pasta looked intriguing

with its red stripes running through it.

• And the price was certainly right: 3.99 for 9 oz or about 10 raviolis. Trader Joe’s says this is enough for
• two. But I didn’t think so. I bought a
• second container. And off home I went to
• make dinner. The sweetness of the
• lobster meat seem a perfect foil to the acidity of tomatoes so I sliced in half
• the contents of a 10 oz. container. I
• also added a couple of thinly sliced cloves of garlic. Then Andrew called to say he’d found some
• purple basil at the Farmer’s Market near Lincoln Center. It was beautiful and besides adding another
• layer of flavor to the sauce, sprigs of it made the ravioli wonderful to look
• at on the plate. By the way I was wrong about the Raviolis. Ten of them would have been fine for two
• people because of the richness of the lobster filling. Neither of these dinners
• took even 30 minutes to make. So they
• enter the Hall of Fame for fast food that’s delicious and so easy to get on the
• table. Here are the recipes:
• Recipe for Cheese Ravioli with Black Truffles and Mushrooms
• Serves 2. Can easily be doubled. Takes under 30 minutes
• 1 9 oz can Urbani Black Truffles
• and Mushrooms
• 1 12 oz package fresh cheese
• Ravioli
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Parsley for plate decorating
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1.

In a large skillet, heat the water

for the ravioli to the boiling point.

As the ravioli cook very quickly,

you want to have this ready so you can plunge the ravioli into the pot for the

4 to 6 minutes they require.

2.

Once the ravioli water is at a boil

or close to, in a second large skillet, combine the contents of the Urbani

container with the cream. Heat the mixture, stirring often over moderate

heat.

3.

Cook the ravioli for the time

allotted on the package.

4.

Lift the ravioli out of the skillet

and combine them with the Black Truffle and Mushroom sauce, coating them

completely.

5.

Serve at once, decorating the top

of each bowl of pasta with a sprig of parsley.

Recipe for Lobster Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Serves 3. (We had leftovers from our 2 packages of

ravioli. I think there might have been enough for 4 depending on appetite.) Takes under 30 minutes.

2 10 Oz. Packages of Lobster

Ravioli.

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 10 oz container of grape

tomatoes, halved

1.

In a large skillet, heat the water

for the ravioli to the boiling point.

As the ravioli cook very quickly,

you want to have this ready so you can plunge the ravioli into the pot for the

4 to 6 minutes they require.

2.

Once the ravioli water is at a boil

or close to, in a second large skillet, add the olive oil to a large skillet

and heat. Add the sliced garlic and the

tomatoes. Add ½ cup of small basil

leaves to the skillet. Stir frequently until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the cream and cook, stirring often, over

moderate heat.

3.

Cook the ravioli for the time

allotted on the package.

4.

Lift the ravioli out of the skillet

and combine them with the Creamy Tomato sauce, coating them completely.

5.

Serve at once, decorating the top

of each bowl of pasta with a sprig of basil.