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