Make It Monday: Dinner Edition

Basil Lemon Butter Cheese Ravioli

Sometimes, you need a delicious, not-at-all-clean dinner.

Seriously. Sometimes, you just need comfort... and food. In the form of pasta. Everyone loves pasta. The boyfriend especially. The kid could live on cheese ravioli and not gain a pound. It's really annoying. This is by far his favorite meal. Since I found this recipe, he's requested it several times. I can't blame him, though. I always feel like it's really fancy when I make it! Except, it's really not. It's cheap, easy, and quick. Perfect for a Sunday night dinner!

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen cheese ravioli

1/2 c. butter (I use Land o' Lakes w/ olive oil)

1 shallot, minced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil

Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Extra basil, for garnish, optional

How To:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the ravioli until done, approximately 7 minutes. The ravioli will float when done. Toss those in a colander. To keep this a one-pot meal, using the same pot, melt the butter. Sauté the shallot and garlic until tender. Mix in the lemon juice, zest, and basil. Let that simmer for about 5 minutes. Just long enough to let the flavors combine. Return the ravioli to the pot, and toss to combine the ingredients.

Serve it up hot with Parmesan and a little extra basil!

That's it. See how simple that is? And don't you feel fancy?

Enjoy!

What's Cookin' Wednesday!

Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara

Warning: This is delicious, clean, and easy. So, I was reading up on some clean eating. The basis of it is that you don't eat any processed food. That basically means cutting out anything canned, jarred, or bagged. Now, there are exceptions, such as canned vegetables and beans. Just look at the label. If you don't know what something is, it's probably not clean. Now, I make a pretty good marinara with canned crushed tomatoes, but why not kick it up a notch on the health front, right? So, this recipe requires minimal work. And if you've read any of my other recipes, you know I'm all about that. On the week nights, at least. 

Ingredients:

7 cloves garlic, peeled

9 large tomatoes, halved

Handful of basil (I used about 10 leaves)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Cooked pasta of choice

(I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles)

How To:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Go about cutting your tomatoes, cutting the basil off the stems, and peeling the garlic. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the tomatoes out. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, and crack a bit of salt and pepper over the tomatoes. Now spread out the garlic and basil with the tomatoes. Pop this in the oven for about an hour, or until the tomatoes begin to brown. It'll smell marvelous. Once they've roasted, take them out and let them cool a bit. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse. Add a bit more salt and pepper, if you please. 

Pile this on top of your cooked pasta, and savor the healthy deliciousness. I will actually take this over the jarred sauce any day. I probably won't make marinara any other way, now. It was just so tasty and fresh.

Have you guys tried eating clean? What's your favorite recipe?

What's Cookin' Wednesday

Baked Vodka Sauce Penne

Vodka sauce is boyfriend's favorite. He loves it. He could probably eat it with a spoon. Alone. I've made this a few times, but decided to change it up a little. Instead of just plain old pasta in sauce, I dumped cheese on top and baked it... yum! It turned out amazing. We paired it with an Olive Garden style salad (lettuce, red onion, parmesan cheese, croutons, and Olive Garden Light Italian Dressing). It was a wonderful meal. Of course, as soon as he was done, boyfriend says, "I could go for a big bowl of gelato, now." He's an endless pit.

The recipe is ridiculously easy.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 an onion, diced

1/2 cup vodka

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 pound Noodles of choice

Mozzarella cheese (optional)

How to:

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and sauté the diced onion in it for about 5 minutes.

Next, stir in the vodka and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring periodically.

While you're waiting, start the noodles and cook until al dente!

Now we can add the heavy cream! Then let that simmer another 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

(I'm a little messy.)

While you're waiting for that to simmer, preheat your oven to 350 and spray a 9x13.

When you're finally done waiting for all that simmering, you can toss the pasta in the sauce, give it a good mix and dump it into your prepared dish. I sprinkled mine with mozzarella and parmesan.

Let that bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Paired with the salad, this was amazing.

Let me know if you give this a try and how it turns out!