Recipe of the Day {Farmer's Market Ravioli}

I would have called this "Ravioli from my Garden" but my tomato plants have been VERY slow in bearing fruit this year (punks), so I had to resort to purchasing some awesome mixed tomatoes at my local Farmer's Market.  My basil plant is rocking, so I was able to use my own basil at least!

This recipe was SO good.  I seriously wished I had made a double batch so I could have totally gorged myself.  I threw this together after watching my friend Anne make a similar dish for lunch last week.  This is SO easy, and SO quick.  I will be making this more often!

I paired this with an Anchor Summer Beer and it was very complimentary.  See my tasting notes on Anchor Summer here.

Farmer's Market Ravioli
Ingredients*
Your favorite five-cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen) or tortellini
3-6 white mushrooms, sliced
Butter
A very generous handful of cherry, grape and pear tomatoes, halved
3 fresh basil leaves (must be fresh!!), sliced
A good quality EVOO
Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Directions
Cook the ravioli according to the package instructions.  A note on ravioli... once the water comes to a boil, REDUCE HEAT to a very mild simmer, then add the ravioli.  Never boil them - they will explode and you will have a sad pot of cheese water and flat pasta flaps instead of yummy stuffed ravioli for dinner.

While the ravioli are cooking, saute the mushrooms in butter.  I don't measure, I just plop some in.  Use your best judgment.  But don't be stingy.

When the ravioli are done, drain them (gently!) and place them in a pasta dish.  Top with the sauteed mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, and fresh basil.  Drizzle a few tablespoons of EVOO over the top, then sprinkle cheese over it all.  Savor the fresh summer flavors!

*A couple of notes on ingredients:
1. Fresh basil is a MUST for this recipe to truly shine.  Dry basil just won't cut it.
2. Fresh cheese is very important - the dry container cheese would not do this recipe justice.
3. Every kitchen that uses fresh ingredients absolutely must invest in high quality EVOO (extra virgin olive oil, for those of you who have NEVER heard of Rachael Ray).  I am lucky enough to be the proud possessor of a bottle of organic EVOO direct from my friend Peppe's organic farm in Sicily.  Good EVOO is so important in fresh recipes!
4. Surprisingly, the best store-bought ravioli I've ever had were the frozen bagged cheese ravs from Costco.  The fresh containers at the grocery store are good too.  If you have the time to make your own ravioli from scratch, go for it!  I'm sure they would outrank ANY store-bought brand.

Cheers!



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