Cold
pasta salads consume the summer time and why not, they are delicious,
quick and very filling. I love anything stuffed, so whats better than
pasta filled with cheese? Maybe it filled with chocolate, that gives me
something to think about if I want to start making my own pasta. Anyway,
this dish was inspired by a meal that I have eaten in Little Italy, New
York City. They had different vegetables and it was hot, but I knew
that eating it cold was a hit as well, as that is what I did the next
morning. I found the history of the Ravioli on Wikipedia and thought I
would share with you.
The earliest mention of ravioli appears in the writings of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Venice in the 14th century. In Venice, the mid-14th century manuscript Libro per cuoco
offers ravioli of green herbs blanched and minced, mixed with beaten
egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth, a recipe that would be familiar
today save for its medieval powdering of "sweet and strong spices".
In Tuscany, some of the earliest mentions of the dish come from the
personal letters of Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato in
the 14th century. In Rome, ravioli were already well-known when
Bartolomeo Scappi served them with boiled chicken to the papl conclave
of 1549.
Ravioli were already known in 14th century England, appearing in the
Anglo-Norman Vellum manuscript Forme of Cury under the name of rauioles. Sicilian ravioli and Malta's ravjul may thus be older than North Italian ones. Maltese ravjul are stuffed with rikotta, the locally produced sheep's-milk ricotta, or with gbejna, the traditional fresh sheep's-milk cheese.
Ingredients:
1 lb. of large cheese ravioli
8 stalks of asparagus, cut in 4's or 5's
1 small yellow pepper
1 small red pepper
1 small yellow onion
1 cup of walnuts
2 cups of parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 garlic cloves
Directions:
Bring
a large pot of water to boil and cook ravioli until they begin to
float. Remove from pot of water. toss with a tablespoon of olive oil so
they don't stick and let cool completely.
In
blender, add in walnuts, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic.
Give it a few pulses until it is liquified. Pour into medium sauce pan
and bring to simmer. Slice up peppers and asparagus and let cook on low
for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Place
ravioli is large bowl and pour sauce over them.
Your
options are you can serve the sauce and the ravioli hot or warm, the
sauce warm and ravioli room temperature or the ravioli and sauce room
temperature. NEVER serve the sauce cold as the oil will harden up and
be gooey.
Enjoy. I did serve this for lunch with a salad and some nice warm bread. Delicious.
