Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Butternut Squash Ravioli Pan-Fried in Garlic Butter Sauce with side of Broccoli



This was awesome. I'd been wanting to do something special with the package of butternut squash ravioli from Rising Moon Organics. So, I decided on a garlic butter sauce with a ton of olive oil, vegan butter (I use Earth Balance), lightly toasted pine nuts, and diced tomatoes. I used plain old boiled frozen broccoli for a side which I flavored with lemon pepper and garlic salt/seasoning.

Notes: I didn't quite get the crispy pan-fried texture I wanted, and it didn't brown, so next time I think I would sauté the ravioli a little more in a lot less oil. That was the other problem: way too much oil. Well, not WAY too much, but I could cut it in half since I wasn't really making a sauce and I'm more after the flavors. I would also possibly cut the pine nuts in half. My bigger problem is I need a non stick pan that's twice the size of the one I have so I can concoct these larger all in one pan meals.

What You Need: (Serves 2)
1pkg Butternut Squash Ravioli
16g garlic (rough chop)
157g diced tomatoes (I used Roma)
.125c Olive Oil (1/8c: but I might have used as much as 1/4c)
.25c Butter (Could be different with actual animal fat butter)
36g onion (small dice)
40g pine nuts (lightly toasted)
429g broccoli (A lot, I know. I love broccoli.)

To Taste:
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
also at the very end: basil flakes or fresh basil

1. Put pine nuts on a sheet pan, lightly oiled (I used generic nonstick spray) and set in oven. I used a toaster oven and burned them a little, so I'll have to get back to you on exact times and whatever. They definitely get a nutty-popcorny smell when they are done. KEEP AN EYE ON THEM. It only takes a little bit.

2. Ravioli: you know what to do. Boil water, GENTLE boil, not rough hard rolling boil. Gently add ravioli, boil until pillowy and extract with a slotted spoon.

3. In a pan over med. heat, heat up olive oil and butter together. Put garlic in this mixture, but don't brown it. The purpose is to get the garlic flavor permeating this oil. Add onion and stir until transluscent.

4. Add Ravioli. Sauté until they get golden brown. I was unable to do this, so maybe a different approach would have to take place. I kept flipping them around in the pan until they got a tiny bit crispy but thye never browned for me. Salt and Pepper and Red pepper flakes are good to add now.

5. Add pine nuts and tomatoes until they are cooked in the mixture.

6. Turn off pan, add fresh basil or dry flakes.

DONE. Whee! I am definitely making this again and tweaking hte recipe, so watch for another version of this. The flavors were spot on. Calorie-laden and fat-tastic, but so worth it.

Fruit Bowl: Kiwi, Strawberry, Banana



Not too spectacular, but oh so pretty. I like to eat kiwi with the skin on (washed, of course). Actually, you should always wash bananas, too. There is a really high incidence of rat pee on bananas, or at least I was told that by a SYSCO SafeServ training many moons ago...

Another one, because I can't choose:

Creamy Tomato Soup and Peanut Butter Sandwich



This is my ultimate comfort food. I dip the PB sandwich in the tomato soup, because it's good. The only way I can eat this is with Campbell's condensed tomato soup made with (soy)milk. Other tomato soups just are not the same.