Chicken cheese ravioli with brown butter and walnut sauce and a salad

Wednesdays are reserved for pastas or pizzas. We love pasta and so most Wednesday nights, its pasta night. This week it was ravioli. This is the first time that i made ravioli, well boiled it. It was so delicious that we will end up making it very soon again. This meal takes only 20-30 mins to put together and with a healthy serving of salad, its not too unhealthy either.

The day i decided to make ravioli, i looked up the recipe for its sauce on Food Network, epicurious etc but all recipes called for some or the other ingredient which i did not have on hand. So this recipe is combination of recipes that i saw on these websites.

 

For the pasta:

1/2 pound chicken and cheese ravioli (We got it at costco-next time will try the one at TJ).
1 tblsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup walnuts
1-2 tblsp grated parmesan cheese
Parsley for garnish (I used coriander but recipe called fro basil and parsley)

Break the walnuts into small pieces and microwave for 2-3 mins till they get a bit roasted.
Heat butter on low heat. Wait till it turns brown. Then add olive oil, chopped garlic and chili flakes and cook on low heat. Add walnut pieces and keep the sauce warm.

In the meantime, cook the ravioli as per the directions. This took only 4 mins in the boiling water.

Drain the pasta, Add to the sauce and mix well. Remove the pan from the heat. Put some pieces of ravioli on a plate, spoon the sauce with walnut pieces, garnish with coriander and grated parmesan cheese.

For the salad:
Mix greens (we use the organic mix greens from Costco)
Chopped tomatoes
chopped carrots
sliced onions
your fav dressing.

Mix everything together and serve. I used the wishbone spritzers for the first time (Italian dressing). It tasted great with the pasta).

Linguini with marinara sauce

Linguini with marinara sauce

Preparation time 5 mins
Cooking time 15 mins

Pasta has become one of our favorite Wednesday meals. Why Wednesday?
After the weekends go by, spent in lazing round, eating lots of yummy food and having fun, the week just drags. By Wednesday, I am in a mid week crisis. I get bored of the roti, sabji, dal, chawal routine (both cooking and eating it) and crave some thing fun. And Samir just loves the fact that he can have wine during the mid week. So pasta it is. And the best part is – its ready in 15 mins. I have seen this recipe on Food TV, though I do not remember the show.

Ingredients (for 2)

½ pound dry linguini
½ jar (app. 1 ½ cups) of tomato basil marinara sauce (I use trader Joes organic sauce)
½ small onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp chili flakes
1 Tblsp maggi hot and sweet chili sauce – it’s different (optional)
1 Tblsp good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil – EVOO
2 Tblsp grated parmesan cheese
2 Tblsp salt
Chopped parsley for garnnish




Method
Heat lots of water in a big pan and add 2 tblsp salt. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 9-10 mins, according to the directions on the package.

In the mean time, heat olive oil in another pan. Add chopped onions, garlic and chili flakes and cook on low heat for 4-5 mins. Do not let the onions or garlic brown.
Then add the marinara sauce and maggi sauce and cook 5 mins.
Drain the pasta, reserving ¼ cup liquid. Add the drained pasta and liquid to the sauce. Add the parmesan cheese. Mix well and serve, garnished with parsley.

It’s really easy to make the sauce at home, but it’s just more convenient to use a readymade one.
I use the magi sauce to give the sauce a kick and a bit if sweetness. I love magi.
Our regional libraries have a lot of cookbooks. Do check them out if you have the time.
I get many of my pasta recipes from these books.