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Artichoke sauce offers a shortcut to luxurious pasta

Katherine Miller Newhouse News Service

We are eternally grateful for frozen ravioli and tortellini. With the cheese-stuffed variety, we usually do a puttanesca-style sauce using marinara from a jar embellished with capers, kalamata olives, anchovies and red pepper flakes. But lately, even that has grown too familiar.

So we’ve added a new item to our pantry: A.G. Ferrari Crema di Carciofi, an artichoke sauce. The sauce is made in Italy’s Liguria region from pureed artichoke hearts, olive oil and herbs. It tastes luxurious, but not in the overly rich, heavy way that many cheese-based sauces can taste.

While we tested the sauce with cheese ravioli, it would also work well on mushroom- or meat-stuffed pasta. If you’re not in the mood for shrimp, leave them out, or substitute leftover chicken or other meat. The crema also could be a great dip for crusty artisan bread or fresh veggies. Heck, this stuff could even make rice crackers taste good.

Ravioli in Artichoke Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, optional

1 8-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted

1 6.5-ounce jar artichoke sauce (see note)

1 cup whipping cream, or half cream, half low-sodium chicken broth

1 pound frozen cheese ravioli

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add shrimp (if using) and artichoke hearts and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the artichoke sauce and whipping cream and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through and artichoke hearts are hot; turn heat to lowest setting.

When water is boiling, add the frozen ravioli to the pot. Cook according to package instructions; drain. Add cooked ravioli to the artichoke sauce. Stir in parsley and lemon juice, serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

Note: We used A.G. Ferrari brand sauce.

Approximate nutrition per serving (when made with all cream): 429 calories, 34 grams fat (17 grams saturated fat, 72 percent fat calories); 12 grams protein; 93 milligrams cholesterol; 736 milligrams sodium; 35 grams carbohydrate; 4 grams dietary fiber.