Arugula Ravioli in Creamy Tarragon Sauce with Fresh English Peas and Pancetta

On Sunday I ran into the store for fresh ravioli and spotted some that were Arugula and fresh Parmesan. Oh man I had to buy them.  I took those sweeties home and then was kind of stumped with what kind of sauce to put on them.  Brown Butter and Sage sounded so good, however I wasn't sure that the sage would taste very good with the arugula but then I remembered this recipe that I wanted to try that calls for ham originally, but I thought pancetta would be a nice addition.  Turns out it was!!

Arugula Ravioli in Creamy Tarragon Sauce with Fresh English Peas and Pancetta
slightly adapted from
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Shallots
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 ounces of pancetta in small cubes
2 Tbsp Tarragon
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound of fresh ravioli (I used Arugula, however I think I would of liked this with cheese ravioli) cooked
1 cup of fresh English peas, shelled
salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add shallots and saute until softened about three minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost all the liquid is gone.  Add the pancetta, tarragon and cream and simmer over medium heat until thickened slightly about ten minutes.
Drain the tortellini and transfer to the cream sauce, stir in the peas and cook for one minute. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Ghetto Pesto

     I tend to use the term ghetto very loosely.  It's a fault I admit, however I consider the word to be so very versatile.  Sure, sure, I get it: "ghetto is a section of a city occupied by a group who live there especially because of social, economic, or legal pressure." Yada, Yada, Yada. To me ghetto is more descriptive.  Like, damn that girl is ghetto over there in her shawty shorts with "Bootylicious" on the butt, or this pesto is so ghetto because I semi-ho'd it(frozen basil=crazy time!).  (Oh yeah, I went there, take that Sandra Lee!) Now keep in mind, ghetto is not necessarily bad. In fact, tonight it was damn good!
     A couple of months ago I impulsively bought a package of frozen basil at Trader Joe's and it was chillin' in the freezer, begging me with it beguiling red packaging to use it every time I opened the door.  Since there is no fresh basil to be found in the store right now (COME ON SUMMMMMMMMER!) I decided to bust it out tonight and make "ghetto pesto."
It really couldn't of been easier, I popped the frozen little nuggets of basil goodness out of their individual cubes and let them thaw in my mini food chopper(which is being held together by tape and a prayer right now, literally.) Once they were thawed, throwing together the rest of dinner took almost less time than it did to boil the water for the pasta!

Ghetto Pesto
14 basil cubes thawed
1/2 cup of almonds (when I break the rules I break all of them! pinenuts=blech!)
3 large cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/4-1/2 c. olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (or mini chopper, or blender) and pulse several times.  If it is too dry and chunky add a bit more olive oil.
I like to toss mine when the pasta is still hot so that it coats the pasta well, however I have heard of some people adding a ladle full of pasta water in with the pesto so it makes it a bit more saucy!

Oh and if you were bursting with curiosity, the chicken on top was simply a chicken breast that I coated with some toasted bread crumbs that had been seasoned with garlic, rosemary, salt and black pepper and then pan fried in about a teaspoon (seriously) of olive oil until done and crisp on the outside!

p.s. I guess I should add that the dorot people didn't pay me or give me free product or anything.  It was simply curiosity that lead me to buy the product and then use it in random ways!

Garlic-Cheese Crusted Chicken and Savory Garlic Cream Pasta

Sometimes chicken is well... boring.  I mean don't get me wrong you can dress it up about a million different ways and parade it around but still it kind of bores me. This recipe however was anything but boring and stemmed from the fact that I saw asparagus in the store again. Oh and the fact that I went to look at fresh pasta in the cheese section (does that make sense?) and saw a new product from Philadelphia Cream Cheese that I really wanted to try.  Normally I'm not into fast fixes or shortcut kind of ingredients, but I do love me some cream cheese and I figured it would hurt to give it a try.  The end result was delicious and a recipe I will be going back to many, many times, I am sure!

Garlic-Cheese Crusted Chicken and Savory Garlic Cream with asparagus, tomatoes and basil pasta
1/3 cup melted butter

2 Tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 cup panko
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
    
     Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Combine melted butter with garlic and in another bowl combine panko with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, Parmesan cheese and black pepper.  Dip chicken in butter mixture and then in crumb mixture. Place in prepared baking dish and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes.

Savory Garlic Cream with asparagus, tomatoes and basil pasta

2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 a pound of fresh asparagus cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tomato diced
1clove of garlic diced
1/2 onion diced finely
1 container of Philadelphia Cooking Creme Savory Garlic flavor
Cooked Pasta (reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking water)
shredded basil

In a skillet over medium high heat melt butter and saute onion and garlic until soft. Add in asparagus and cook until desired done-ness.  Mix in one container of Philadelphia cooking creme savory garlic and 1/2 a cup of reserved cooking water.  Heat without allowing it to boil, stirring frequently about five minutes or warm and then mix in diced tomatoes.  Serve over pasta and top with shredded basil.

Just to add in, I am by no means being paid by Philadelphia cream cheese, or Kraft, I just was intrigued by the ingredient!