Last Night's Dinner 5

A very quick brothy ravioli

No, I didn’t make the ravioli, yes, I do do so on occasion when Adam wants a kitchen project, but so infrequently that I am not quite sure where my KitchenAid pasta making attachments are and I think last time we rolled by hand. I should get them out. Hours of fun with the extruder attachment when the children were young.

So yes, I do buy packets of ready made tortellini or ravioli as Adam is a fan - and when I say packets these are sometimes from a stall at the farmers market or from a deli, but usually from the supermarket. If the latter, I find the plainer, more classic ones safer in terms of flavour and quite pure in terms of ingredients which stops them from falling into the UPF zone. Parma ham and cheese, or spinach and ricotta take other flavours well and are good for jazzing up. I wanted to add a pinch of saffron to this one, but could not find the saffron which I know I have. Look - you can see from this photo (3 down and across from the left) it WAS there, but it is not there now. Gone, vanished. Not everyone in my family likes saffron so I am viewing this disappearance as very suspicious indeed.

Cooking filled pastas like these in a pressure cooker is an absolute cinch. You can cook it plain - a good option if you are adding a raw sauce such as pesto or just dressing with oil, butter, cheese. I usually start with a heated pressure cooker and a slick of oil, because pasta is starchy and it sticks. Then I partially cover with liquid. When I say partially cover, I mean I add enough liquid so it comes up the sides but doesn’t spill so much over the top. This way it part steams/part boils. It also means that it comes up to pressure faster - important, because you don’t want it to overcook. Timings - if it comes up to pressure fast (ie, in under 2 minutes), I remove from the heat immediately and leave to stand for 1 minute before releasing the pressure. If it takes any longer - usually because the liquid/pasta is cold - then I will fast release immediately. It hasn’t failed me yet!

The recipe below is in brodo, so the pasta sat in a well flavoured broth. It is enough for a light meal for 2, with bread for mopping and maybe a green salad as well. But there is absolutely no reason why you can’t add more vegetables if you want to.

Ravioli in Brodo

1 tbsp olive oil

15g butter (optional)

1 leek, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 medium/large tomato, finely chopped

A splash of vermouth or white wine (optional)

1 packet ravioli (usually between 250-300g)

500ml stock, preferably at room temperature (I use home made chicken, use whatever you like, or water)

Herbs, chilli flakes and parmesan to finish