Gorgonzola Ravioli with Hazelnut Cream Sauce and Radicchio

I had a coupon for this good brand of ravioli so I picked up a package to try. While I've made my own ravioli before, convenience foods are nice sometimes too. I wanted to make some sort of sauce to go with it. After floating the idea of a Gorgonzola cream sauce, I realized that might be too much cheese. I decided liked the idea of a hazelnut cream sauce, so I went with that. The bitter radicchio and the creamy pasta and sauce make a great combination.

This was very quick to make and we loved it! I was meeting a friend for Zumba later that evening and I was able to cook, photograph, and eat with time to spare before I had to leave.

CSA Week 20:

In the box: 1 radicchio, 2 pounds Sweet Girl tomatoes, 2 pounds carrots, 1 bunch beets, 1 pound yellow onions, 2 pounds Sierra Rose potatoes, 1 Delicata squash, 2 Sweet Italian peppers, 1 pound Canadice grapes, 2 pounds Winter Banana apples

One night we made a simple pasta dish - a recipe that Joe found somewhere on the web years ago. We make it quite a bit, just going from memory now, and varying it based on what we have around. It's basically sauteed onions, garlic, capers, yellow or red bell peppers, and kalamata olives, tossed with cooked farfalle and topped with Parmesan. We used the sweet peppers in place of the bell peppers, and added beet greens. I forgot that even the beet greens turn everything pink, but it still tasted great. I roasted some of the tomatoes to go on the side.

The rest of the tomatoes and onions were used to make delicious poached mahi mahi in ravigote sauce, recipe by Jacques Pepin. His recipe calls for salmon, which would have been wonderful, but I had some mahi mahi in the freezer that I decided to use instead.The sauce is so easy. You just chop and add everything to a bowl, stir it together, and that's it, no cooking required. Since poached fish is pretty plain, you definitely want a topping with a lot of punch like this to give it flavor.

Next, we made a recipe I saw over on Chef Dennis' blog: Apple Beet Compote with Fennel and Candied Walnuts. This recipe materialized when he was trying to use what he had on hand one night. I had apples (the Rome apples from last week) and beets from this week, so I decided to make it too. I didn't have fennel, but that was ok. I followed his directions exactly. I served my compote over bulgur wheat. He suggested adding crumbled gorgonzola, and I loved that idea so I bought some...but then I totally forgot to use it! Arg! Oh well, it was still delicious, and after dinner we quickly found ourselves back in the kitchen, running our fingers around the skillet to soak up the sugary-butter mixture from the candied walnuts. Mmmmm. Yep, we have no self-control when it comes to butter.

I made a potato soup in the slow cooker using some of the carrots, some potatoes from last week and most of the ones from this week. I used this recipe. It is a very filling and satisfying soup, especially because I used regular instead of fat-free half-n-half.

We haven't eaten the Delicata squash just yet.

I was a little nervous about eating an apple with the word 'banana' in the name, but I assure you, they don't taste like bananas. It must refer to the color. They are nice and sweet. The grapes were petite but  had a nice tartness to them. I have been eating the rest of the carrots with hummus for snacks.

Gorgonzola Ravioli with Hazelnut Cream Sauce and Radicchio
Inspiration for the hazelnut cream sauce was found here
serves 2

Notes: We used Rising Moon Organics Garlic Gorgonzola Ravioli made with Spinach Pasta, but there are a number of different flavors of ravioli that would complement a hazelnut cream sauce. I think butternut squash or pumpkin would be awesome.

1 (8 ounce) package ravioli (such as gorgonzola, pumpkin, butternut squash, etc)
1 head Radicchio
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cream sauce:
1/3 cup dry roasted hazelnuts
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt to taste

Garnish with: 
Crumbled Gorgonzola
Chopped hazelnuts
Chopped fresh herbs such as sage, basil, or parsley

Preheat the broiler.

Slice the radicchio in quarters lengthwise and place cut side up on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Cook the ravioli according to package directions.

Meanwhile, start the cream sauce. It will make a prettier sauce if you can remove the papery skins from the hazelnuts. I used this tool which worked really well, but it would probably also work to wrap them up in a kitchen towel and roll them along the counter.

Process nuts in a food processor until they become pretty fine crumbs. Toast in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Lower heat, then add the butter, stir until melted, then add the cream. Stir to combine, and cook until thickened, 5-10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.

Broil the radicchio until the edges of the leaves look a bit charred. Remove from oven, when cool enough to handle, thinly slice crosswise.

To serve, pile some radicchio into the bottom of a rimmed soup bowl, then top with ravioli. Drizzle the cream sauce over the top. Garnish with crumbled Gorgonzola, chopped hazelnuts, and fresh herbs. Serve immediately.