Walnut Cream Sauce Ravioli

One time in Florence I had the best meal I have ever had in my life. It was pasta with a Walnut Cream Sauce and I still long for it to this day. So good. This is my feeble attempt to make this glorious Italian dish. Don’t get me wrong… this sauce is really good, otherwise I would never add it to the blog archives, but nothing can ever compare to what I ate in Italy. I must go back someday…

SAUCE
1 c. crushed walnuts
1/2 c. butter (or margarine)
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. white wine
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of pepper
1 c. freshly grated/shaved parmesan cheese

*Prepackaged ravioli (I do one pack of cheese ravioli combined with one package of chicken filled – Costco has a great chicken ravioli – but this sauce also tastes great with a butternut squash ravioli if you can find it). If you want to attempt to make your own homemade ravioli, this recipe looks good. But I am lazy and would never attempt to make my own pasta, let’s be honest…

Bring a pot of water to boil and add ravioli as you make the sauce. Remember, ravioli only needs to cook for about 4-5 minutes.

Toast your crushed walnuts on a baking sheet at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes (until slightly browned). Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the better on the stove over medium high heat. As soon as it is melted, add the cream and wine, and cook for a few minutes over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add walnuts, spices, and cheese, and stir well. Remove from heat. {I add about 3/4 cup Parmesan into sauce and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup to the top of the dish before serving.}

Just a note… this sauce is unlike any other pasta sauce I know of. It has it’s own unique flavor (not at all like a traditional white sauce), but it’s great! It’s also not super runny or creamy – notice in the picture above that the ravioli is not really swimming in sauce at all; it just kind of sticks to the ravioli with it’s parmesan=y, walnut-y goodness. The above picture was taken at a big group dinner, and from the feedback I got, I think everyone liked it!

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