4 Cheese Ravioli Perfect For A Quick, 30 Minute Dinner

Raviolis make the best dinner because they cook really quickly and they are really tasty. Plus, you can make the sauce while the raviolis cook. 30 minutes is all this dish took to make and took less than $15 for all the ingredients. The gorgonzola cream sauce is sooo delicious, it tastes like it took much more time to create. Paired with sautéed zucchini and crispy bacon, these raviolis are a win.

Ingredients:

Store bought 4 cheese ravioli

1 zucchini

3 strips bacon, julienned

2 oz gorgonzola cheese

1 shallot, rough chopped

3 cloves garlic, rough chopped

1-1/2 c heavy cream

Fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

1 tbsp kosher salt

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp black pepper

1/4 c white wine vinegar

Tools needed:

Perforated spoon

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Saute pan

Stock pot

Burner

Measuring cups/spoons

How to make it:

Cut zucchini in strips by cutting the zucchini in half. Slice each half lengthwise, slicing zucchini 1/4 inch thick. It will be cut to have a rectangular shape to it. On each slice, put a little bit of oil, salt and pepper on both sides. In a medium size saute pan, heat on medium heat (#5 on the dial). Add 1 tbsp oil to pan and carefully place zucchini in pan. Saute for 3-4 minutes per side. They should be nice and browned on the first side before flipping. Cook second side for 3-4 more minutes. Put on plate and set aside.

Cut bacon into julienne strips. In a preheated saute pan, add 1 tbsp oil and render bacon strips in saute pan over medium heat #5 on the dial. Stirring occasionally to keep bacon from burning. Once bacon starts to crisp, remove from pan with perforated spoon. Drain off most of the fat, reserving 1 tbsp worth. I keep bacon fat for sautéing veggies and cooking eggs in during the week.

With the remaining 1 tbsp bacon fat still in the pan, add shallots and garlic to the same pan the bacon was cooked in. Add a good pinch salt to pull the natural flavors from the shallot and garlic. Sweet garlic and shallots for 2 minutes over medium low heat. Once soft and translucenton, add the vinegar to deglaze the pan. Keep on medium low heat and reduce the vinegar to 1 tbsp, scrapping the bottom of the pan to get up the delicious caramelized bits. Once vinegar is reduced, add the heavy cream. Season cream with black pepper. Gently bring cream up to a simmer and keep a medium low (3 on the dial). Keep on a simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until cream has reduced by half. We essentially just made a double cream. Turn off the heat. Give the sauce a taste to see if it needs more salt. Keep in mind the gorgonzola and bacon is salty, so don’t add too much! Add herbs and the gorgonzola.. Stir the sauce to melt in the cheese.

At this point in time, the raviolis should be done. Keep some pasta water (1/2 c worth) and strain raviolis. The reserved pasta water is used if the sauce thickened too much. Add raviolis to the pan with the sauce, gently fold in raviolis to evenly coat with that beautiful gorgonzola cream sauce.

Let’s plate!

Arrange sautéed zucchini and bacon on a plate. Top with ravioli and spoon the sauce over ravioli. Top with more herbs, black pepper and gorgonzola.

Enjoy!

-Logan