Ravioli With Sage Cream Sauce

Ravioli with Sage Cream Sauce

This pasta dish is an ABSOLUTE favorite.  It's so simple and comes together pretty quickly.  You can find so many delicious types of frozen ravioli in the grocery stores, from butternut squash to spinach and pine nut to a plain kid-friendly cheese.  My kids love cheese ravioli, but for more sophisticated palates use any other favorite ravioli.  They ALL are wonderful with this simple sauce, it's so packed with flavor.   For variation, add a pound of sliced mushrooms and sauté with the green onions.  NOTE:  Sage is a hardy perennial herb which looks great planted among other plants in your perennial garden.  It is so easy to grow, takes little care and is definitely worth growing for use in meals that call for fresh herbs of choice.  However you can use some dried sage if you don't have a sage bush just yet. 

1 lb. 9 ounces package frozen ravioli (cheese, butternut squash or vegetable)

3 tablespoons butter

handful pecans, chopped

6 green onions, greens and whites thinly sliced

handful fresh sage leaves, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried

1 ½ cups water

1 tablespoon chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or 3 cubes

1 2/3 cup heavy cream

several grinds fresh ground pepper

grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

First, chop pecans, chop green onions, and chop fresh sage.  Set aside.  In large sauté pan, melt butter and sauté pecans until fragrant, just a couple minutes. Remove pecans from pan with slotted spoon and set aside.  Add onions and sage to pan.  Sauté a few minutes.   Add cream, water and chicken bouillon.  Stir and simmer on medium-high until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Stir frequently. When sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, turn the heat off under the sauce.  While sauce thickens, fill a large pot with water, add some olive oil and coarse salt.  Bring to a boil.  Add ravioli and stir gently. Don’t let water come to a boil again.  Let the hot water cook the ravioli until done, according to package directions.  Be careful not to overcook ravioli, as they will break and lose their filling. Gently drain. Ravioli will float to the surface when done.  If sauce begins to separate, it has cooked a little too long, just whisk in a little cream or chicken broth to reach desired consistency again.  Place ravioli in large pasta bowl and pour sauce over the top. Garnish with Parmesan and additional sage and sauteed pecans, if desired. Serve with additional cheese and crusty bread.