A lazy day?

So I attempted to make this several weeks ago only to discover one of my ingredients had gone bad (now I make sure to check all my dairy products before I purchase them, the expiration date is not always a good indicator, check cheese for green stuff!) I was able to successfully pull this recipe off the other night with some non-moldy ricotta. I really liked it, but Tyler was kind of ambivalent. Maybe he doesn't like ricotta? I think he was not impressed with the semi-homemadeness of this meal. I'm not really up for making ravioli and tortellini from scratch just yet. I foresee a week of him cooking every night in the very near future, then we'll talk about taking shortcuts when cooking! ;)



Tortellini with Creamy Tomato Sauce (original recipe from Giada's Family Dinners)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds tortellini or ravioli
3 cups marinara sauce (I used one jar of Classico spicy tomato sauce)
1.5 cups ricotta cheese (I used part skim, and next time I will use less ricotta, I tripled the original recipe but it was too cheesy for Tyler)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil to the water to help prevent pasta from sticking. Add the tortellini and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain the tortellini, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Toss the tortellini with the remaining oil to coat.

Meanwhile, bring the marinara sauce to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking often. Whisk in the ricotta and enough reserved cooking water to thin the sauce to desired consistency. For a thicker sauce, use less pasta water; for a thinner sauce, add more water. Return the sauce to a simmer. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon 1/2 cup sauce on plate. Arrange the tortellini over the sauce. Drizzle another 1/2 cup sauce over the tortellini. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and the basil, and serve.

Garlicky Green Beans (experiment by Julia, and a tasty one at that!)



Ingredients:
2-3 cups fresh green beans, ends trimmed, washed thoroughly.
2 gloves minced garlic (I'm lazy so I put them through my garlic press instead of chopping them with a knife myself)
1-2 tablespoons butter.
Dash of salt and pepper

Directions:
Saute green beans with butter and garlic in a large skillet until tender crisp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve hot.

Olive Oil Dipping Sauce (another Julia experiment)



On a small plate mix together some salt, pepper, basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese, and thyme. Add extra-virgin olive oil and serve with your favorite bread!