Looking to dress up the ravioli you have in your freezer or fridge tonight?
This ravioli recipe is wonderful, and will definitely do the trick. When you sit down to this great pasta dish with your family, you'll be glad you spent a little extra time to make the broccoli sauce – instead of just the usual shredded parmesan cheese and calling it complete.
Ravioli with Broccoli Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (add more if you like a spicier sauce) *see note below
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 lb. fresh broccoli
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
15 oz. package frozen cheese ravioli, cooked
Directions:
1. Heat oil in medium saucepan. Add garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper.
2. Sauté until garlic is lightly browned, 5-7 mins.
3. Add cream; cook 20 min. to thicken, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, cut broccoli into 1-1/2″ flowerets. Place in separate pan, cover with water and cook until tender, drain and set aside.
5. Add Parmesan cheese to sauce mixture, stir to blend.
6. Prepare broccoli as directed, drain. Add broccoli to sauce and pour over ravioli.
* The original recipe we had used called for 1/4 cup red pepper flakes; we used dried sweet pepper flakes. Unfortunately we just found out that McCormick discontinued it in 2011. This is a makeover of that recipe using spicy red pepper flakes, with the adjusted amount to use (you can use more or less depending on your taste).
Sides to Serve With This Recipe
This recipe is great with a lot of different sides! We've got some suggestions here for you; feel free to use any one of these, or get creative and come up with your own!
If you've never tried making your own bread before, this is your sign to try. Homemade bread is one of the greatest things you can ever produce in your kitchen. While bread may seem like a plain side dish, it works really well with this recipe. You can use the bread to mop up the extra cream sauce!
If you want to go a little on the fancy side, try a Caesar salad! You can often find Caesar salad mixes in the store, or you can simply buy the ingredients and make it yourself. It's up to you whether you want to include the anchovies, but we think most kids would prefer it without. It's already hard enough to get kids to eat their vegetables; don't make it harder!
One final suggestion that everyone will love is garlic breadsticks. Breadsticks are a common side served with pasta, and for good reason. They're buttery, soft, and delicious. The addition of garlic elevates a good breadstick's flavor profile to great levels. Buy them from the store or make them yourself.