That is This: Ravioli with Artichokes, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Peas in a Champagne Cream Sauce

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Ravioli with Artichokes, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Peas in a Champagne Cream Sauce

Making homemade ravioli each holiday season has always been a tradition in my family. I remember when my kids were young, mixing and rolling the dough by hand, and one by one placing hundreds of meat and cheese filled ravioli on a special white floured sheet that I laid across my bed. I can't say they looked real uniform, as some were square and some came out rectangled, but they all were a labor of love.

Fast forward to now, and we have the convenience of food processors to help mix up the dough in seconds and ravioli forms to make them look picture perfect, and now I would never think of rolling the dough by hand without a pasta machine!

We still keep our family tradition going, but now we have a lot more hands to help in the process, and it becomes a day we all look forward to, usually we try to get them done before Thanksgiving. I wrote a previous post on our ravioli extravaganza last year here.
Here's a couple of photos from this year. I love how the pasta machine gets the dough nice and thin.
My oldest Granddaughter is now part of the tradition, and before we know it our new little one will be joining in on the fun.

We even tried making whole wheat dough for the first time, it's a little tougher to work with and a little harder to crank through the machine, but they tasted great!

Back to the recipe. Normally we eat our ravioli with a basil and garlic flavored marinara sauce, but for a elegant way of serving them you have to try my roasted garlic champagne cream sauce. It's not something you have everyday, but for a special occasion it's the perfect dish, and besides you'll have plenty of leftover champagne to sip while your eating. Don't worry, you certainly don't have to make your own homemade ravioli for this, you can use any good store bought kind that you like.

The sauce is simply made by sauteing 1/2 of an onion with 4 cloves of roasted garlic in some olive oil. Pop open your champagne and add in 1 1/2 cups. Cook until it reduces down then whisk in 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. Simmer until it all thickens together.

While the ravioli are cooking, in a large saute pan add some frozen artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and peas with a little olive oil. Add in your champagne sauce then add in the cooked raviolis, season with black pepper. Garnish with parsley and grated parmesan. The flavors are wonderful together.

On a side note!