Ravioli with Chicken, Artichokes and Sundried Tomatoes

I had just finished making a batch of Basic Tomato Sauce, and in order to fit it all into the freezer I had to remove something. There were some packages of ravioli, so I pulled those out, along with some chicken tenders and kept some of the Basic Tomato Sauce out to use as part of the sauce.

The dish needed something else to complete it, and the can of artichokes in the pantry was perfect, along with the last of the jar of sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and Asiago cheese to finish it off.

Start off by putting a large pot of lightly salted water on to boil. While waiting for it to boil, make the sauce. The ravioli only take a few minutes to cook, so they only need to go into the water when the sauce is ready to serve.

Using some of the oil from the sundried tomatoes, cook:

1/2 medium onion, diced

Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is soft.

Cut into 1/2" cubes:

8 chicken tenders

Add to the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until almost completely cooked.

Add:

3/4 cup diced artichoke hearts ( this was 6 hearts)
2 cloves garlic, minced

The sundried tomatoes can be added now as well. Some of us don't like them, so I added them at the end, after serving them.

Add in:

2 cups of Basic Tomato Sauce

Allow the sauce to simmer while the pasta cooks.

 

When the ravioli is cooked, drain it and put it back into the pot.

Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning.

Mix in:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil




Gently mix the sauce into the pasta, and serve, topped with grated Asiago or Parmesan. I had 2 kinds of ravioli, one filled with butternut squash and the other with chicken and rosemary.

 


Butternut squash ravioli

Ravioli filled with chicken, mozzarella and rosemary

• If you don't have chicken tenders, chicken breast can be used. For the 8 tenders I had, you can use 1 large breast, or 2 smaller ones. Leftover cooked chicken can also be used.
• The meat can be omitted if you like.
• The oil from the sundried tomatoes adds a lot to the sauce, as it contains herbs and spices, plus the flavour from the tomatoes. I always drain the oil from the tomatoes when using them; this leaves me with a lot of the oil. Using it to sear chicken breast or fish adds a lot to a dish.
• Add extra vegetables to the sauce...try olives, capers, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, diced zucchini or eggplant.
• Soft goat cheese crumbled on top of the pasta will melt into the sauce, turning it into a creamy tomato sauce.
• Instead of chicken, use prawns, crab meat or scallops.
• Don't limit yourself to ravioli...try other stuffed pasta such as tortellini. Dried pasta such as penne, rigatoni or linguine can also be used.