I can be honest here, right? I’ve never made my own homemade pasta but I’d love to. Making my own pasta (especially ravioli) is one of my cooking bucket lists. One of my guilty food pleasures used to be the prepackaged pasta meals from Buitoni. Have you tried those? I love the cheese ravioli but until recently, it had been quite a while since I’d indulged in some store-bought pasta. It’s mainly because I thought I would make my own homemade ravioli but needless to say, that hasn’t happened yet. What I have done today though, is elevate packaged cheese ravioli with caramelized figs.
Thanks to the folks at The Kitchn, I found one of the easiest recipes ever that involves store-bought cheese ravioli. I’m not kidding. By the way, if you don’t have The Kitchn’s cookbook, get it. Here are 5 things I learned from their cookbook.
Can we all agree that figs are sort of weird? I don’t get them but they’re beautiful and have a wonderfully sweet flavor. There was recently a Huffington Post article about what figs “really are”. I didn’t read the article solely out of fear. If you feel so inclined to read it, here’s a little story about figs. I know it has something to do with wasps.
Anyway, I never once thought about caramelizing figs. Obviously I know you can essentially caramelize anything you want but I’ve always just muddled figs in a cocktails or only thought of them in jams and jellies. After making this oh-so-easy dish, I’m now a fan of figs in pasta. This was such a great re-introduction into the world of prepackaged pastas. Want to impress someone with an elegant but easy dinner? Try this recipe.
Caramelized figs? Who knew?
This dish is buttery, sweet and a little salty (from the prosciutto). It’s pretty perfect. If you’re a food texture person like I am, the caramelized figs will probably freak you out a bit. Since the figs have been broken down and caramelized in butter (yes!), the texture is much softer and mushy. But once it’s combined with the ravioli and crispy prosciutto, you’ll barely even realize it. I can’t stress enough, if you’re looking for an elegant meal to serve tonight (or any night) make this dish.
Bonus: it’s only FIVE ingredients (not including salt and pepper).
Caramelized Figs with Cheese Ravioli
Ingredients
- 4 thin slices of prosciutto
- 2 (9-ounce) packages cheese ravioli (I used Buitoni)
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 6 fresh figs, quartered through the stem
- 1 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the prosciutto in a single layer. Cook until it starts to curl and is browned just a bit (about 2 minutes). Flip and repeat on the other side. Transfer the prosciutto to paper towels to drain. Don't wash the skillet.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the cheese ravioli according to the package. Save some of the pasta water.
- In the same skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the figs and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter browns and the figs have softened and caramelized - about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ravioli to the skillet and add 1/4 cup of pasta water; simmer and toss gently until the sauce thickens a little (2 minutes).
- Transfer to serving bowls and crumble the crispy prosciutto over each portion.
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