1 pound fresh cheese raviolis
12 plump, chewy sun-dried tomatoes (I just guessed, as the sun-dried tomatoes I bought were very small and packed in oil in a jar, the only kind I could find)
2 medium cloves garlic
red pepper flakes (up to you how much you want to put in)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 handfuls of baby spinach tossed with a glug of olive oil and a big pinch of salt
2/3 cup oven-roasted tomatoes* (more if you really like tomatoes!)
a bit of crumbled feta cheese
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the raviolis per package instructions. Drain, but reserve about one cup of the hot pasta water (important!).
In the meantime, make the sun-dried tomato pesto by pulsing the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper flakes, olive oil, thyme and salt in a food processor or blender, until it comes together into a textured crumble. Add the walnuts/pine nuts, and pulse a few more times. Set aside.
Combine 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water in a large mixing bowl along with the pesto. Add the cooked raviolis and gently toss. Add more of the hot pasta water if needed to thin the pesto out - it should make a nice chunky sauce.
Arrange the baby spinach on the plates and top with the ravioli, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.
*To oven-roast cherry tomatoes: Heat oven to 350F. Cut each tomato in half and arange in a large oven-proof baking dish. Mix together a big splash of olive oil, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a few pinches of salt. Pour this over the tomatoes. Gentley toss them a bit, making sure they all get coated. Arrange tomatoes cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
*From Key Ingredient/RecipeGrazer
