I wish I could say I made the ravioli by hand, but I didn't. They're from Whole Foods, but they were made from a small Italian artisan, much better than Whole Foods own brand- 360. I used Martha Stewart's recipe as a guideline, looking at ingredients and then building off it with what was available and sounded good. I used sweet onion instead of shallots and sauteed them in olive oil first to give the sauce another dimension of flavor. The recipe also called for fresh sage and balsamic vinegar, which I added to taste rather than following the recipe exactly. I also changed around the order I added my ingredients, and I'm not sure that was an advantage in this instance.
I didn't taste the ravioli until after I sauced it, and it
was surprisingly too sweet. With the rich, butter sauce, it turned into a very heavy dish. To counteract the sweetness, I added red chili pepper flakes, Meyer lemon juice (a sweeter variety) and a touch of ground ginger. This helped immensely.
I wasn't as great as I had imagined it to be. Not every dish is a success and you learn from experience and mistakes. Next time, I would find a more savory ravioli, used shallots, and maybe added a little heavy cream, or white wine instead of balsamic vinegar.To be honest, I had a stomach ache after eating and popped two extra-strength Tums. This meal, which was meant to be a 'light snack' before dinner, just didn't quite come together. It wasn't bad, it was merely an intense mix of rich and sweet that was overpowering.
