Ravioli with Arugula, Tomatoes, and Pancetta

Do you ever cook something that was so good, yet so easy, that you wanted to make it again? Like, the next day? That doesn’t usually happen to me because by the time I’m done with all the leftovers, I’m tired of it. This dish, though, had me wanting more.

I can’t claim credit for finding this one. When hubby and I were home in NY for Christmas one year, my friend Ashly had us over and made it for us. See, here she is.

If you’ve never had a Sicilian make you dinner, you should. Just saying. They know what they’re doing.

I can’t quite remember when this dinner was, but I know it was before she got married, before hubby and I were married, and before she and her boyfriend (now husband) bought the house that they live in now. So it’s been a while, though probably not as long as that description makes it sound. To be honest, my memories of that night are of catching up after being apart for a while, drinking too much wine, giggling, and probably driving our boys crazy. They were good sports, though. I think they talked about cars. Anyway, I remember 1,000,000,000,000 Christmas lights, because that’s how they do Christmas in their house, and the warm purple sweater with ruffles that I was wearing, and the fact that Diana Krall was playing on the stereo. I remember helping Ashly in the kitchen and watching as she did everything, but I honestly don’t remember the meal that much.

Apparently I’m feeling nostalgic today. Can you blame me? Hubby and I are moving back to NY in a few weeks. It’s been six years and I’m ready to go home. Maybe that’s why my mind is wandering in that direction.

Anyway, hubby and I were having company over for dinner and I wanted something that would be relatively easy, yet fancy. Something Italian but less labor-intensive than my lasagna or stuffed shells, and something that was just plain delicious. So I dug out the recipe that Ashly had given me.

First, here was my uber-easy appetizer. Sliced French bread dipped in seasoned oil. Nom nom nom.

And the next course (which I served at the same time as the entrée), was my cranberry and almond spinach salad with poppyseed dressing.

And now for the meal.

First step: boil some frozen ravioli.

My sole experience with pancetta was with this meal. I vaguely remembered that it looked like ham and I almost just bought ham when I had trouble finding pancetta at the grocery store. Luckily I didn’t, instead asking the people at the deli, and this is what I got.

Definitely not ham! More like bacon. I tasted it, and it was salty and flavorful.

First step is just to sauté it in a pan, then let it drain on paper towels. This is apparently the only picture I took of the process. But they got nice and crispy, and there was plenty of oil in the pan.

Next, take a can of diced tomatoes.

Sauté the tomatoes with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. The recipe didn’t say whether you should drain the pan of all the fat from the pancetta, but I did.

Next up, chop some fresh basil.

After the tomatoes have cooked for about 2 minutes, add the basil and a few cups of fresh arugula. Cook it until it’s wilted.

You’re supposed to add in a bit of butter at this point, but I forgot. Whoops.

Okay, your ravioli should be done about now. Drain them.

And then toss with the tomato/ arugula mixture and also the pancetta.

Serve it up with a pinch of fresh Parmesan cheese and some garlic toast, and you’re good to go.

So wonderful. I loved this. I want to make it again. It doesn’t take longer to make than just boiling the ravioli, and it is so worth the effort. The pancetta spiced things up, making it fancy and flavorful.

Delicious. Really.

Ranch Baked Chicken

Sometimes I work really hard to find a recipe that suits exactly what I want to make or one that incorporates the ingredients that I want to incorporate.

Other times, I do a google search for two or three ingredients and settle for the first recipe that pops up. In this case, I had an inkling that there is a yummy use for that bottle of ranch that I bought, besides as a salad dressing or dip, so a google search was in order.

First step: Add salt, pepper, and paprika to some bread crumbs. I decided to use a mixture of Italian-seasoned and Panko-style bread crumbs, just for kicks.

This is what it looked like all mixed up:

The recipe said to use a cup of ranch dressing. That seemed like a crazy amount, so I just squirted a bunch in a bowl.

Then I had to add more because I ran out. Go figure.

Anyway, the recipe called for four chicken breasts, but I used three and cut them in half. Better breading to chicken ratio, in my opinion, plus it’s harder to overeat. Dip the chicken in the dressing, then the breadcrumbs, then set in a greased baking dish. Perhaps the one that you bought from the grocery store for $10 the day before Thanksgiving and have subsequently fallen truly in love with.

And bake! The recipe said an hour and 15 minutes at 375, but I took them out after 40 or 45 and they were perfect.

PERFECT, I say.

My pretty red placemats were in the wash, so this picture will have to do. It’s underwhelming, I know, but the meal was yummy. Boxed potatoes au gratin, which p.s. are one of my favorite dishes ever and hubby agrees, and my oven roasted asparagus.

If you’re in need of a quick and easy weeknight dinner, this was it. The chicken was moist and tasted like ranch without having the taste being overwhelming. I don’t think anyone would be too picky to dislike this, unless they just don’t like chicken in general.

Andouille and Chicken Creole Pasta

Sometimes I like to try to find recipes that venture into Cajun flair, since hubby grew up eating Cajun food. I’ve been told it’s impossible to make “real” Cajun food outside of the area, since you can’t get “real” sausage or other essential ingredients, but I thought this recipe would be a good compromise because it has ingredients I can get in Maryland.

I made it once, about a year and a half ago. At the time, I had cut way back on the spice in the recipe, since the reviews all said that 3 tablespoons of creole seasoning is far too much, but even so it was too spicy to enjoy and all the effort was wasted. I had Andouille in the fridge, so I thought I’d try again, cutting back even more.

My ingredients weren’t exactly fresh. Here are some frozen chicken breasts and some frozen green and red bell peppers, which I had cut into strips prior to freezing.

I thawed out the chicken enough to cut it up, and then also sliced up a package of Andouille sausage links. If they look a little funny around the edges, it’s because I’d opened the package a few days earlier for another recipe and didn’t seal it up properly. Oops.

Sautéed the sausage and chicken with a bunch of creole seasoning until they were about halfway cooked. The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of the seasoning. Last time, I used 2 and it was far too much. This time, I think I started with about a 1/2 tablespoon and added more as I went.

Added in the peppers. Should have added fresh mushrooms, but I didn’t have any. And I forgot that I had a can of sliced mushrooms in the cupboard, but those are never as good as fresh anyway.

When the veggies have cooked and become tender, stir in some chicken broth

And milk (I used skim)

I poured them together to give me something to do while I was waiting to dump them in… I don’t think this is necessary!

Also, measure out some garlic powder and lemon pepper seasoning to add to the mixture.

Nom nom nom… it’s starting to look and smell delicious.

However, it’s extremely liquidy. The recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water. I never use that much when I thicken my sauces, but then again this was a LOT of liquid so I figured I didn’t have a choice.

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And then just simmer for a while, letting the whole thing thicken up.

I thought about serving this with rice, since the linguini it calls for seemed odd, but I asked hubby which he’d prefer and he said linguini. Linguini it is.

It did turn out well. Hubby liked it a lot better this time, since the heat wasn’t overpowering to the point where we couldn’t even taste anything. Personally, I thought it tasted corn-starchy. I think it’d make more sense to add less liquid – maybe half the chicken broth and half the milk – and then you wouldn’t have to work so hard to thicken it up. Of course, you could also use cream in place of milk and then use even less, but that’d be a lot more fattening.

But it was good, even the leftovers. A nice, flavorful change up from the usual red sauce.