Ravioli with Broccoli and Creamy Pesto Sauce
November 05, 2005
This recipe can be a bit complicated so you can take the easy way out and use a jar of your favorite red sauce in lieu of the pesto sauce. This dish can be served up in a hurry, but it retains an elegant presentation. The dish contains raviolis with fresh cream pesto sauce, and a side of steamed broccoli with chile piquin and olive oil.
You will need: a package of your favorite raviolis, 2 full crowns of broccoli, chile piquin, olive oil, pesto sauce (recipe included), cream, tomatoes.
The Pesto Sauce: Pesto sauce is a delicate sauce made from basil, garlic, parsley, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, salt and olive oil. If you make this, you can freeze the leftovers and use it for about 4 or 5 other dishes. This is the raw pesto, no cream yet!
For the Pesto (no cream yet), you will need:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 c of toasted pine nuts, shelled
- 3/4 c of fresh grated parmesan
- 3 bunches of basil (remove the stems)
- 1/2 c of flat leaf Italian parsley, rinsed and patted dry
- salt to taste
- 1 c of olive oil
Step One: In a blender or food processor, add 4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts, 3/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan. Work the blender or processor to brake these ingredients down finely.
Step Two: Add 3 bunches of chopped basil, 1/2 cup of rough chopped flat leaf parsley. Blend this using the pulse function. You may have to stop the processor or blender and use a rubber spatula to scrape the top and bottom.
Step Three: Put the lid on the blender or processor and take out the small inner lid used to pour in liquids. While blending the ingredients, slowly drizzle in olive oil -- you may not need the entire 1 c depending on the consistency you like. Add salt. The mixture should be a deep green and have a thick consistency; after pouring it into a bowl, there should be about 1/4 inch of olive oil that floats to the top.
You should set aside about 3 tblsp of pesto, and freeze the rest. Tip from my viejo: when freezing this, place it in a plastic tupperware container and place a piece of saranwrap down over the pesto mixture before putting the lid on. This keeps the pesto from turning brown in the freezer.
Broccoli Florrettes
Step One: wash the broccoli crowns and cut off the florrettes. Place in pot with 3/4 cup of water. If you have a steamer (it looks like a collapsing flower with holes) place the florettes on this. Throw on a dash of salt and place a lid over the sauce pot and cook on medium high for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Color should be bright green like a crayon.
Raviolis: I prefer to buy fresh made raviolis from a gourmet grocery and freeze them until I cook them. This dish goes well with mushroom ravioli or cheese raviolis.
Step One: In a large pot, boil water with a dash of salt.
Step Two: Cook your favorite ravioli according to directions - if frozen, they take only 4-6 minutes to cook. Remove from water and place on a plate, cover to keep warm.
Pesto Cream Sauce:
Step One: In the same pan you cooked the raviolis in, after you've removed the raviolis and drained the water, return it to the stove on medium heat. Add 5 tblsp of cream and the 3 tblsp of pesto.
Step Two: Whisk this for a few minutes until it thickens slightly - do not let this boil! This makes just enough sauce to coat 8-10 raviolis.
Serving: Take the broccoli out of the steamed pot, and serve on plates. Crush a red chile piquin over the broccoli and drizzle olive oil (about 2 tblsp worth) over the florrettes. Place the raviolis on each plate and spoon on the cream pesto over each ravioli. Slice tomatoes and place on plate, for complete meal. Again, if the pesto is too difficult, warm up marinara and spoon over raviolis, this tastes just as great (DO NOT use cheap gross brands of jarred sauce like Prego. Instead use Classico, Rao's or other brand that uses real tomatoes).
Serve and enjoy.
