Artichoke and Olive Ravioli with Red Kale

I made a big batch of marinara sauce the other day (post to come soon) so I had to try it out. The verdict? Awesome.

Normally we try out new batches with some angel hair pasta and bread to get a good picture of the sauce. This time we had just gotten done shopping and had purchased (among other things) some Rising Moon Ravioli. Specifically, the Creamy Artichoke and Olive variety. I’m not the biggest olive fan, but my wife is. I gave in and bought them and they were actually rather tasty.

I had some mise en place leftover from calzones a few nights prior (another post to come, I promise) so I sauteed it all (green peppers, artichokes and grape tomatoes) in a little roasted garlic oil.

We also bought some red kale. We’ve been eating an inordinate amount of kale recently, but had yet to try the red variety and it didn’t disappoint. It was a little tougher than normal (may have been how I cooked it), but it was still really good. I added the kale and let it wilt.

As soon as the ravioli began to float I transferred it to the sautee pan, added the freshly-made marinara sauce and we were in business. With so many vegetables (and bread – I had some leftover pizza dough I baked like a boule) I only made one package of ravioli and it was more than enough.

Gnocchi, Kale, White Wheat Bread

Gnocchi is one of my favorite things in the world. I’ve replaced it almost entirely for pasta (though some nice angel hair can be mighty tempting) as my starch for marinara sauce. I used to not even use marinara, instead sauteeing some garlic, deglazing with balsamic vinegar and adding a can of diced tomatoes. It was almost too easy (and fast!), but now that I’m trying to avoid BPA, I can’t use my beloved canned tomatoes.

So, marinara it is. Twist my arm, eh? The other substitution I made tonight was kale in place of spinach. Not sure why I wanted to change, but I bought two heads of kale the other night and wanted to use it up. The whole meal is super easy to make, starting with a little roasted garlic (and oil), wilting of the kale and adding marinara sauce.

Once the gnocchi floats in the water, strain it, mix it all up and you’re ready to go. I told you it was easy, it’s just that you didn’t believe me.

I ran out of whole wheat pastry flour for my bread, so I had to use all “white wheat” for this batch and it was certainly a lot lighter, though every bit as delicious. I still haven’t done enough research into “white wheat” versus “whole wheat”, but that will have to be another day.