At this time of year, or actually at any time of year, it is vital for us to have some incredibly quick meal options available to us so we can eat something between work and whatever else we are doing in the evening. Filled pasta is one of those super fast but tasty and light meals that we can be eating within a few minutes. I received a couple of bags of Giovanni Rana filled pasta to put to the test.
The marketing literature tells me these pastas are inspired by traditional Italian recipes and loved by Italians everywhere. Giovanni Rana has been making pasta for over 50 years, and now has launched a number of new recipes to keep us happy when speed is of the essence.
Tender Spinach and Ricotta Tortelloni
Our go-to pasta filling whatever brand we buy, these tortelloni are filled with a lovely light spinach and ricotta cheese filling.
We did as suggested on the packet and didn’t serve a sauce with this pasta. Instead after allowing the pasta to simmer for just a couple of minutes (all it takes) I drained the water and added a little butter and some cooked king prawns before serving. It was, quite simply, one of the best filled pasta meals we have had. The pasta was beautiful, the filling was lovely, and it really didn’t need any sauce. The 250g bag of pasta with the king prawns was plenty for us both for a light mid-week meal and rendered us both silent while we consumed it.
Gorgonzola and Crunchy Mellow Walnut
From the Italian Indulgence range these large ravioli contain rich gorgonzola cheese blended with crunchy walnuts.
I love that these pastas only day a few minutes to cook. It’s so simple – boil the kettle, get that water into a pan and simmering lightly, add the pasta and some salt, stir the pasta so it turns over a couple of times over the course of three minutes, drain and serve with some butter or oil. This time I didn’t add any additional protein, we just had the ravioli (we were in a massive rush!), we just had the ravioli with a very little melted butter.
Unfortunately this one didn’t work quite so well as the tortelloni as the ravioli split in the pan. What a shame. We ended up with a nice tasting meal but it didn’t look that appetising as the filling is a very odd beige non-colour. It was lovely, the walnut gave it a lovely texture as well as flavour, but it didn’t look quite right. This particular flavour would be nice served over a grilled chicken breast or with a big bowl of salad.
I would definitely recommend Giovanni Rana – especially the tortelloni I tried – easy, quick, and far superior to any supermarket filled pasta I’ve tried before.
What do you think? Comment below...