Most of the time, I make dinner for Matt and myself. Once in a while, I get lazy and he does it. But sometimes...sometimes we tag-team dinner, and that is almost always the best idea ever.
Tag-team dinners usually involve the grill, because I've never grilled anything in my life, Matt loves grilling and our kitchen is just way too small for two people to cook in it. So yesterday afternoon, when I suggested we pick up some steaks to go with a ravioli recipe I wanted to try, Matt was pretty excited. Ok, I'll be honest, we both were. Steak is awesome.
It was an unconventional pairing, I'll admit, but I really wanted to make that ravioli because I had a TON of fresh sage that a neighbor gave us. And frankly, chicken just sounded boring.
About halfway through making the recipe, I decided photography was in order. I mean, seriously:
For real though. Straight-up mouth-watering, amiright?
The full recipe for the ravioli is over on the Food Network website, but here's a little rundown:
As a sidenote, I used frozen ravioli when the recipe called for refrigerated pasta. Frozen was fine, but I have no doubt that refrigerated would be even better.
So basically you just bring some balsamic vinegar, honey and a bay leaf to a boil in a small saucepot, let it boil for four to five minutes, then reduce the heat to simmer and cover it. It'll thicken and just become this gorgeous glaze that's totally drool-worthy. Protip: Use the back burner, and definitely DON'T lean over the pot while the vinegar is reducing. Trust me. It hurts.
While the balsamic vinegar stuff is happening, melt some butter in a skillet and bring large pot of water to a boil for the ravioli. When the butter's melted, add in lots of fresh sage and some chopped walnuts. The walnuts will toast up in about three minutes, which is likely how long the ravioli will take, too. (Or at least, that's how long my frozen stuff took.)
Add about a cup of the pasta water to the skillet and bring to a boil. Let it boil for a couple minutes, until it's reduced by half. Reserve another half-cup of pasta water, then drain. Add the drained ravioli to the skillet, tossing to coat and adding some of the reserved water if needed to loosen. Then stir in a whole bunch of Parmesan — my favorite part, natch. Stir to combine well.
Then you're ready to go! Just dish out the ravioli and drizzle with the balsamic reduction. To help pair the steak, we brushed it with butter on the grill and topped it with more fresh-grated Parmesan. (My friend Emily got me a Parm grater a while back and let me tell you, it has been amazing. I highly recommend getting one!)
What can I say? Matt and I make a great team :)
Have you made anything delicious lately? Tell me about it in the comments! I've been looking for some new recipes lately...
So I recently decided to go back on the rotating-menu plan for dinners each week, mostly because I was getting sick of the "What do you feel like tonight?" "I don't know, what do you want?" "I don't know, wanna just get take out?" routine. So a few weekends ago, I took several hours and planned out six weeks' worth of menus with some new recipes to try and, of course, some new favorites. One of the new recipes is this penne dish, from a junk mailer I got once called Fine Cooking Magazine. And oh-my-freaking-gosh you guys. This dish. Is. The. Bomb.
Best of all, it re-heats really, really well. So I can make this full four-serving recipe, then have enough leftover to eat for lunch the next day. Score!
Ingredients:
- kosher salt, pepper
- 8 oz. fresh baby spinach (about 10 lightly packed cups)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (adjust according to taste)
- 12 oz uncooked penne (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Make sure there's a rack positioned in the center of your oven, then preheat to 350 degrees. While it's heating, bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Put the spinach in a colander in the sink.
Spread the walnuts out evenly on a baking sheet and toast until dark golden-brown, about six to eight minutes. You'll be able to smell them when they're ready. Oh man. I just started drooling. When they're done, set aside to cool.
Cook the penne to al dente. Reserve about half a cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta in the colander over the spinach. This, and the hot pasta lying on top of the spinach for the next few minutes, actually cooks the greens. How cool is that?
Add the gorgonzola and cream to a 10- to 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle boil. Add pepper to taste, as well as a pinch of kosher salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is slightly thickened and the gorgonzola is mostly melted. It should take about two to three minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the pasta and spinach, and stir to coat. Add half of the walnuts and chives and stir again to combine. Cook until the pasta absorbs some of the sause, about two minutes more. If the mixture gets too thick, add some of the reserved cooking water to loosen it up. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed. Dish out into serving bowls and top with the remaining walnuts and chives, and try not to wolf it down like a starved person. (Trust me, it's harder than it sounds!)
