What's For Dinner Wednesday: Giovanni Rana Prosciutto Tortelloni with Tomato Cream Sauce & Spinach

The folks at Giovanni Rana recently gave me the opportunity to sample several of their pastas and sauces and I could not have been more excited to do so. I love pasta and have walked by these products in my grocery store several times and have been so tempted to buy them... I'm pretty sure this was fate.

Have you tried any Giovanni Rana products yet? I was really amazed by the quality of their prepared pastas. The texture of the noodles was amazing. Normally you buy those frozen ravioli and then turn to mush when you boil them or if you buy the ones in the refrigerator section they have almost a rubbery quality to them... not great. I was so pleasantly surprised by Rana's pastas. The noodles are delicate, but remain firm when you cook them so they have that great al dente bite that a fresh pasta should have. And the flavors are wonderful-- as fresh as if Chef Rana were in your kitchen filling the pasta by hand.

Alex and I decided to give the prosicutto tortelloni a try recently for a little weekend date night at home. Sometimes it is so nice to curl up on the couch with Alex, a movie, a glass of wine, and a big bowl of pasta. I made a very simple tomato cream sauce with fresh spinach to toss the tortelloni in and it was a perfect one dish dinner. The sweet sauce paired perfectly with the savory saltiness of the proscuitto-filled pasta.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. bag of Giovanni Rana Prosciutto Tortelloni
• 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (no salt added, if possible), with juices
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. dry basil
• 1/2 tsp. dry parsley
• 2 cups spinach leaves, rough chopped
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

Cook pasta according to package directions and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Once heated, add onion and cook for 3-5 minutes or until softened, but not brown. Stir in garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid has thickened and reduced.

Adjust heat to medium and add the heavy cream to the pan. Continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes to allow cream to incorporate and thicken. Stir in salt and pepper to taste, basil, and parsley. Reduce heat to low and carefully add spinach to the pan. Fold the spinach into the sauce mixture for about 2 minutes until it has wilted into the sauce.

Remove from heat and whisk in the Parmesan. Toss tortelloni in the warm sauce and serve immediately.

*Editor's Note: The pasta was provided by Giovanni Rana at no cost, however all of the opinions expressed here are my own. Thanks again, Giovanni Rana!