Weekday Restaurant Quality Ravioli
In our house, I really like to feel like I'm eating out even though I'm not. I've had a few people ask for little tips and quick and easy meals. This is just that. Easy, quick, and good enough for a large groups of people if needed. I made this when one of my children were blessed. We had a large crowd come into town and this was easy and tasty. I also like the fact that both adults and kids LOVE it. Make garlic bread and toss a salad and you can turn this into a great meal. A wedge salad is simple and you can dress it up with a great dressing. In the coming weeks I'll introduce some easy and amazing ones you can make at home.
The trick to this recipe is the fresh herbs and spices mixed with very few other items. Fresh basil or home dried basil makes this recipe go from moderately good-- to amazing. I like to grow my own basil and dry it so when I need it, I have it. So with that being said, I would suggest you use fresh herbs unless you dry your own. Basil that sits on the shelf for long periods of time doesn't have the flavor you are going for.
Another thing I wouldn't change is to always use a higher quality grated Parmesan. DON'T use what my daughter likes to call "Sprinkle cheese" or shelf Parmesan. If it doesn't need to be refrigerated, it's not going to give you the taste you want. If you want to grate your own, awesome. If you are lazy like me, I buy it either in the pre-grated bag or in that little plastic tub. Either will work fine.
You can use any frozen ravioli you'd like. Beef, cheese, mushroom, lobster... Whatever. I prefer using cheese or beef with this red sauce. Normally, I prefer a white sauce or vodka sauce for my mushroom or seafood because the flavors are more delicate but, you can do whatever you'd like. This can be cheap or expensive depending on what your budget. That's the beauty of this recipe. If you want to dress it up for a special occasion say like New Years Eve or a dinner party then maybe go with something more fancy. For any day of the week we go with cheese or beef.
Weekday Restaurant Quality Ravioli
1 24-25 oz. bag of frozen ravioli
1 24 oz. can Hunts pasta sauce (Any flavor)
1 small yellow onion grated
2 cloves of garlic minced
chopped fresh basil
3 T. butter
salt and pepper
2-3 T. sugar
grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
Start off by following the directions on the bag of ravioli. I always add salt and a small amount of olive oil to my pasta water. It adds flavor and helps the pasta from sticking to each other. Once you've started a pot for the pasta you can move on to the sauce.
In a pan heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Heat through for 3 minutes or so. Add the Hunts pasta sauce, basil, salt and pepper, and sugar to taste. Simmer while your ravioli cooks. Add a spoonful or two of the pasta water to your sauce. Stir.
Once the ravioli are all floating to the top of the pan, they are done. Try not to over cook so they loose their filling. Drain and place back in pan with some butter. Allow them to sit in the butter for a minute or two before you plate.
Spoon 5-6 ravioli per plate. Spoon on red sauce and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serves about 4-5.