The sun is starting to shine… the days are getting longer, it is now the time to put away the heavy meals and start eating fresh! I am fortunate enough to have a fantastic artisanal market close by. The local pasta maker has over 20 kinds of delicious pasta, with my favorite being the ravioli!
Spring Ravioli
Ingredients (For 2 mains)
- Around 400 gm of ravioli (I like to have a mix of different flavors, like beef and parmesan; tomato and basil, rabbit and rosemary)
- A dozen fresh cherry tomatoes
- 2 fresh large Roma vine tomatoes (diced)
- A good bunch of fresh basil (smashed to release the flavor)
- 1/4 cup of good quality Italian virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 1 shallot (diced)
- 4 mushrooms (sliced)
- A few leaves of fresh baby spinach
- 200ml of dry white wine
- Half a fresh chili
- 2 tablespoons of roasted tomato tapenade
- Salt and Pepper
- A small knob of fresh mozzarella
- Half a cup of Fresh grated parmesan
- 1/4 baguette (sliced finely)
- 1/4 cup of pine nuts
Fresh Italian
Method for the Sauce
- Start by making a basil, garlic and pine nut infused olive oil by smashing the basil, garlic and pints in a mortar and pestle, add olive oil
- To make the mini mozzarella and tomatoes, slice the bottom off the cherry tomatoes (to make sure they don’t fall over when plated), and slice in half
- Cut the mozzarella into rounds, around the same size as the cherry tomato half
- Cover the mozzarella with the basil infused olive oil then make a stack with cherry tomatoes, place on the side (this largely decorative)
- For the toasts, take the sliced baguette, drizzle some basil infused olive oil and place under the grill – grill both sides
- Take from oven, let cool slightly, then cover with roasted tomato tapenade and parmesan
- Now – start your sauce – heat olive oil in pan, add shallots, garlic and white wine and sauté for a few minutes
- Add tomatoes and spinach, salt and pepper and the chili (if you like a a bit of spice )
- Simmer for a few minutes
- Place toasts under the grill
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook ravioli for 3 minutes
- Everything is now ready and it is ready to dish up, don’t forget to decorate with your mini mozzarella tomatoes!
- This dish tastes best when sitting outside, under the sun with a good glass of New Zealand Pinot Gris!!
