Family Chow Hall

Italian Ravioli Soup

Ravioli soup — A scrumptious treat and a change from ordinary spaghetti or labor-intensive lasagne.

You get the best of both worlds with this dish - all the flavor of making it yourself… Plus the ease of pulling something prepared out of the freezer.

Frozen pasta is delicious and cooks within minutes. Tortellini, Pierogies, even egg noodles are all superb frozen pastas.

The sauce for this dish takes a small amount of effort, but it’s worth it. If you’re not into making your own sauce, pick up a jar of Ragu (or whatever).

And while you prepare it, you can imagine yours is the big, happy, food-passing, finger-licking, cheek-kissing Italian family you see on Olive Garden commercials. So your daydreams may burst the second you all sit down together at the table… hey - you had fun imagining it, right?

Garlic Bread is the preferred side for this dish, but a good salad would be a healthier choice.

Italian Ravioli Soup
serves 8-10 / prep. time: 20 minutes

1 pkg. frozen ravioli (cheese or meat filling, whichever you prefer)
1 lb. bulk sausage - it can be Italian, plain, or garlic
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1 can chicken broth
1 can V-8
3/4 c. water
1 t. minced garlic
1 t. parsley
3/4 t. basil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 t. sugar
Parmesan cheese for topping

Well, that ingredient list looks kinda long, but most of it is just the flavorings for the sauce. If you’re taking the easy way out, buy a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce and add a can of chicken broth. If you’re making the sauce from scratch, dump the tomatoes, paste, chicken broth, water, V-8, the herbs and flavorings in a medium stockpot and set the heat on low.

In a skillet, brown the sausage and onion together. If it’s a bit on the greasy side, drain it before proceeding. Next I usually let the sausage cool and then run it through my chopper. I do this because sausage tends to be rather sticky and wants to stay together in large clumps. I prefer it fine, so into the chopper it goes. After that, I can dump it into my bubbly aromatic tomato sauce.

Finally, in an even bigger stockpot bring some water to a boil for the ravioli. Check the package for exact amount required, but it should be plenty. Follow the directions for cooking the noodles - it’s usually just a few minutes in boiling water. Then you will drain the ravioli and add it to the sauce, or vice versa depending on how big your stockpot is.

Now your soup is done — ladel it up and sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

Add comment November 13th, 2008

Spaghetti Carbonara

Here it is, a different take on spaghetti — a great recipe for those picky kids you see eating dry, tasteless spaghetti because they don’t like red tomato sauce. (picture me rolling my eyes) Also a great dish for the accomplished spaghetti-eating adult who just wants something a bit different.

My basic two ways of preparing spaghetti are 1) chunky red sauce and 2) purchased Alfredo sauce. Spaghetti Carbonara is a lighter-tasting spaghetti containing bits of bacon but still retaining an Italian flavor. Mmm…. Mmmm… If my kids read this post, I can promise you I’ll be making this one soon.

I don’t know if the Olive Garden serves this dish, but I can just imagine it — it would fit in really well on their advertisements.

Spaghetti Carbonara
serves 6

1 lb. dry spaghetti
6 slices of bacon
2 T. olive oil or melted butter
1/4 t. chili pepper flakes
1 egg
1/3 c. parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Takes just minutes to prepare! Cut down on the time by purchasing already cooked bacon or preparing the bacon beforehand.

Fry the bacon and place on paper towels to drain. Crumble into tiny bits.

Boil the spaghetti according to the package directions. By the way, any of your long pastas will work here — angel hair, linguine, spaghetti, or vermicelli.

While your noodles boil, combine the crumbled bacon with the oil and pepper flakes in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat the egg and add the cheese to it.

Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the bacon/pepper mixture. Toss in the egg. The heat from the pasta will cook the egg as you toss it all together. Shake some salt and pepper on top of it all. Voila! You are done! Serve to your hungry family. Don’t forget some salad, preferably a nice, fresh Caesar salad.

Enjoy!

June 6th, 2008

Lemon Basil Linguine

This dish, of course, accompanied our Lemon Basil Salmon a couple of nights ago. I wanted a light sauce for our pasta because the Salmon was the main event that night. Steering away from heavy, creamy, or cheesy sauce, I invented this:

Lemon Basil Linguine
serves 6 as a side dish

4 oz. Linguine
3 T. lemon juice
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. dried basil
dashes of salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Naturally, start with a large pot of salted, boiling water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. When it’s done, drain in a colander.

Toss everything together and serve. This pasta had a mild lemony flavor that went really well with the fish.

March 12th, 2008