Recipes by Zola - "Grilled" Pasta Sauce with Cheese Ravioli

ArcaMax Publishing > Home & Garden > Recipes > Recipes by Zola

Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.

Food and Wine Pairing Guide:

Match the perfect wine with your recipes using our Wine Pairing guide

The Funnies:

Get free jokes, comics, and more! See them all on
our funnies page

Games:

Fun online games, quizzes, hangman and more on the games page

"Grilled" Pasta Sauce with Cheese Ravioli

Zola Gorgon

Thinking Strategically...

Something interesting happened to me the other day that had nothing to do with my back. Well, now that I think about it, it had everything to do with my back, but since it happened in my head, they really didn't seem connected. But, ahhhh....they were connected.

What happened is the CEO part of my brain re-connected. (For those of you that forgot, or perhaps never knew, in my full-time, real job, I'm the CEO of Apex Performance Systems, a sales training and management/leadership consulting company). What do I mean by "my brain re-connected"?

Think of it this way. My whole being became consumed with healing after I woke up, hardly able to walk, on May 30. It took every ounce of my energy to endure the pain I was going through for the first few weeks. Starting June 15 I could no longer walk at all without a walker; and even that was excruciating. I was in the hospital barely able to move. No amount of narcotics could dull the calamity. July 27, I had surgery. I walked out of the hospital that same day. Still on narcotics and still in pain but I WALKED. Now I had to recover.

The parade began. Caretakers galore. I had nurses, caregivers (slightly less schooling than a nurse), healers, chiropractors and drugs. Lots of drugs. And plenty of pain. My body and even my mind were completely preoccupied with getting well. The phrase "One day at a time" now makes complete sense to me. Although I thought I was running at full capacity; making conference calls from my bed when necessary, I really wasn't. My body was trying its darndest to get moving again and I was progressing. What hadn't kicked in yet was part of my brain. Most of my brain was fine. I had no head injury. I could work. I could carry an intelligent conversation. Everything on the surface seemed fine. Then, on a Tuesday, around 2PM it was like the clouds parted. I realized I was beginning to think strategically again. Instead of just running the company on a day-to-day (one day at a time) basis my brain became whole again and I could think ahead. I could strategize what needed to be done to get the wheels really moving and I could think months and even a year in advance. My ability to visualize the future came back into focus.

Funny thing is my brain was protecting me so well I didn't even notice I had lost that ability until it came back! On Wednesday, when I woke up I felt light-years smarter again. And that, my dear folks, is one grand feeling.

"Grilled" Pasta Sauce with Cheese Ravioli

Serves 2. Can be doubled

For today's recipe let's get out the grill; at least one more time... This pasta sauce tastes so fresh. It's really worth the effort to grill the veggies.

The Veggies:

Olive oil spray
Sea salt
1 small eggplant cut into chunks (If you use Japanese eggplant the skin definitely does not need to be remove and you won't have to worry about seeds. If you use a regular eggplant peeling the skin is optional. I don't do it but I do remove the center to get rid of the seeds).
1 large onion cut into 6 wedges
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1 zucchini cut into wedges (think large French fries)

Sauce:
1 Tbl of olive oil
6 plum tomatoes diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp shallots diced
2 tsp of Italian spices
1/4 tsp of salt
pinch cayenne

Pasta

1 pre-made package of cheese ravioli for two.

You have three options with the pasta:

1. You can skip the pasta and just have the veggies and sauce.
2. You can serve it over any kind of pasta noodles that you like.
3. You can serve it over pre-made ravioli. I could teach you how to make ravioli by hand but for convenience sake go ahead and use the pre-made version. Several stores offer very good ones.

Grilling the veggies:

Spray the veggies with olive oil spray. Lightly sprinkle with grated sea salt (kosher salt will work too)

Heat the grill to medium and begin grilling the veggies. You can put them directly on the grill or in a grill pan. You want to fully cook the veggies; even a tidbit blackened on the edges. This gives them a full, rustic flavor. As each veggie gets done just put it on your platter. When they are all grilled, put the platter (oven proof) in the oven set on warm to hold them until you are ready to serve.

On the Stove:

Put all of the sauce ingredients in a saute pan. Heat on medium until bubbling and then keep on low for up to 15 minutes to thicken the sauce to your liking.

While your sauce is bubbling, heat water in a large pot until boiling. Use enough water to cover the pasta you have chosen. Then follow the directions on the package to cook your pasta.

To Serve:

Put your pasta in the bottom of a pasta bowl or on a plate. Place sauce on the pasta and top with the veggies.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 10/08/2007

Share this Story