So, if you don’t already know me, there is something you will quickly learn about me on this blog.

I LOVE FOOD!

And, I love to cook it… probably more. My wife thinks I’m insane. Cooking absolutely stresses her out; but, for me, cooking is a freedom, an art, and an experience to create marvelous things to titillate the senses. This dish is something I hijacked from Disney’s California Adventure from the Disneyland Resort. We stumbled upon this little area in the far corner between the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier. It’s called, Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta. The food was so good that my wife went back for a 2nd serving! LOL… so, naturally, I wanted to figure out if I could replicate it at home.

This post is all about how to make this dish for less than $3.99 dollars in cost per serving!

Resort Style Pesto Ravioli with Balsamic Glaze Reduction – $3.99

What you’ll need:

• Prepackaged, uncooked, refrigerated 4 or 5 Cheese Ravioli. I got mine from Trader Joe’s for $3 (12-13 pieces).
• Pre-ground Parmesan Cheese. I also got mine at Trader Joe’s for $2.99 in one of those green shakers.
• Balsamic Vinegar. Allllllso… from Trader Joe’s (hint where we like to shop). $2.79 if memory serves.
• Some brown & white sugar from your pantry. We’ll call the cost something like $1 worth of sugar, if even.
• Fresh made pesto. I got a big hunk of it from Costco for $7.99. For 6 pieces, I probably use $1-2 worth of pesto.
• AND! If you want to get fancy, you can pick up some roasted pine nuts for near $20/lb. I usually leave this off unless I’m trying to spoil the wife… or, impress company.

So, when we spin this all down, I only use 6-7 pieces of ravioli which comes down to $1.50 in serving cost. The cheese, is negligible and we’ll call it $0.25 as is the balsamic vinegar which we’ll call a similar point of cost. When you add all this together, you’ll get just under $4 in material costs. So, with all that said, it’s time to cook!

The Recipe

1. Begin by boiling water and putting your ravioli in. I know, I know… you’re supposed to wait for it to boil. Personally, I just do it this way because I’m lazy & because I’m a big rule break. Just get the pasta cooked 🙂
2. Pour about 3-5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar out onto a frying pan or sauce pan. Put the heat up to about medium or medium high.
3. Add 2-3 tablespoons of 50/50 white/brown sugar into the balsamic… this will become your glaze.
4. And… WHISK! Whisk like your life depended on it. DO. NOT. STOP.
5. Okay… now you can slow it down.
6. Once the glaze starts to boil, you’ll need to carefully manage the heat so that you don’t over reduce the glaze or just plain caramelize (aka burn) the poor thing into a molasses oblivion — PS. Keep whisking.
7. To do this, put the heat down at low or medium-low and still whisking the sillies out of the glaze, moving it periodically onto and off of the heat. It should get to a consistency where by tipping the sauce pan, the glaze slowly moves from one side to the other much like a syrup would. That’s how you know you got it!
8. Okay. By now, your ravioli is ready so strain those puppies out and make sure they are relatively dry on the outside.
9. Mix in your pesto with the ravioli, gently… usually I use two spoons and gently toss them in a mixing bowl so I don’t break open any raviolis.
10. Once this is done, start your plating. Dust the top of the raviolis with some Parmesan cheese (or grate it, if you like to be fancy).
11. Then, pour the glaze over the top of the meal. I like to do a line down the middle and around the plate just for the visual effects. The extra glaze, I pool to the sides if possible.
12. Finally, if you want to be extra fancy, sprinkle some roasted pine nuts on top as the finishing touch!

bon appetit!