Red Pesto Ravioli

Submitted by aronsinvest

"Tried this and it was marvelous. Come from the website 101 cookbooks. Easy and vegetarian to boot."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb fresh cheese, raviolis
• 12 plump chewy sun-dried tomatoes (about 2 ounces)
• 2 medium garlic cloves
• 1 couple big pinches red pepper flakes
• 1⁄3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 cup walnuts or 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach tossed with a glug of olive oil and a big pinch salt
• 2⁄3 cup oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (optional)
• 1 bit of crumbled goat cheese

directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the raviolis per package instructions. Drain, but reserve about one cup of the hot pasta water (important!).
2. In the meantime, make the sun-dried tomato pesto by pulsing the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper flakes, olive oil, thyme, and salt in a food processor until it comes together into a textured crumble. Add the walnuts, and pulse a few more times. Set aside.
3. Combine 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water in a large mixing bowl along with two-thirds of the sun-dried tomato pesto. Add the cooked raviolis and gently toss. Add more of the hot pasta water if needed to thin the pesto out - it should make a nice chunky sauce. Taste and add more of the pesto if you like - it's really a matter of personal preference at this point.
4. Arrange the baby spinach on a large platter and top with everything from the ravioli mixing bowl. Top with the cherry tomatoes and a bit of crumbled goat cheese.
5. Serves 2 - 4.
6. *To oven-roast cherry tomatoes: Heat oven to 350F degrees. Cut each tomato in half and arrange in a large oven-proof baking dish. Mix together a big splash of olive oil, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a few pinches of salt. Pour this over the tomatoes. Gently toss them a bit, making sure they all get coated. Arrange tomatoes cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 mintutes or so, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.