Sweet and Savory Sundays: Spicy Ravioli Florentine

Pin It PIN IT!

Dear Italy, I miss you and want to be back with you!

I’ve had a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and I’m really, REALLY sad to see it go 🙁 I’m still holding onto the whole “money growing on trees” scheme, so, let’s make that happen smart people, k? Well, I had a fun day today either way. We had a great lunch at Moby Dick’s [it’s amazing Persian food in DC] then played old fashioned video games like a bunch of kids and saw Tron 3D. Obviously, Elliot won the “what movie will we see today” game. But, I’m not complaining, it was a really, REALLY good movie! Jeff Bridges can do no wrong, at least in my book.  Enough about my day, how was your weekend? Lots of good eating and drinking? I hope! Speaking of eating, it’s time to talk food, ya’ll!

I miss Italy. Every single day that passes I miss it even more, especially with all of this ugly snow/slush/grey crap on the ground.  Instead of moping around eating gelato and drinking vino [I don’t care that it’s winter or 3 pm] I decided to make a little tribute to an Italian favorite for our weekend dinner and whip up a spicy batch of ravioli Florentine. What exactly does Florentine mean? It’s just a fancy way of saving “served with spinach!” I added a can of zesty garlic diced tomatoes and a few tablespoons of roasted red peppar for a nice kick! You can definitely make your own ravioli but since we haven’t received the pasta addition to our kitchen aid mixer yet [hint, hint, hint!], I used store bought kind. After just a bite with a swig of wine I felt like I was back on the porch at our villa in Orvieto.

Spicy Ravioli Florentine

What You’ll Need:

  • 20 oz. bag of cheese filled frozen ravioli
  • 1 can of spinach
  • 1 can of zesty garlic diced tomatoes [or any kind will do!]
  • 1 tsp. Basil
  • 2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
  • 3 garlic gloves, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

How to Make It:

  • Bring a pot of water to boil. Dash a bit of salt. Once water is boiled, pour ravioli in and cook until tender. Drain and set aside.

  • Heat olive oil and garlic in a medium sauce pan. Cook garlic gloves until lightly browned. Add canned spinach and tomatoes to the garlic. Sprinkle basil and red pepper on the mix. Heat on medium-low heat until warm. Add 1/2 of the Parmesan mixture to the spinach. Take off heat and stir in cheese.

  • Pour spinach mixture over noodles and sprinkle with cheese. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information per 1 and 1/2 cup: 300 calories, 13 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Posted by Happy When Not Hungry on
    Monday, January 31st, 2011
    Wow this looks awesome! I love the spice too. Moby Dicks is great too!
  2. Posted by Melissa on
    Monday, January 31st, 2011
    it's 11:30pm and now I'm very very hungry. I never put spinach in pasta when I cook... I don't know why because it's so delicious.
  3. Posted by Jill on
    Monday, January 31st, 2011
    I'm missing Italy too after seeing your post! Love the colourful photos and serving in a rustic pot, too.
  4. Posted by Briarrose on
    Monday, January 31st, 2011
    Delicious. Wonderfully spicy.
  5. Posted by Ravienomnoms on
    Friday, February 4th, 2011
    Thank looks so amazing! I love my ravioli to have a little spice with it!
  6. Posted by kjpugs on
    Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
    CANNED spinach. That is genius. I never can get fresh spinach when I need it but frozen is inconvenient too. This is a great tip for me for many recipes!