Baked Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Pistou

I made this particular recipe because I found these adorable baby ravioli at the supermarket and they were just PERFECT for this dish, which is basically little individual ravioli and goat cheese casseroles. You could absolutely use the big ravioli, but the little ones mean you can get more raviolis in there, and I am all about as much ravioli as possible in life.

I also learned what the word "pistou" means: it is a sauce made of basil leaves, oil oil and garlic. I bet you thought that was pesto, but no -- pesto means there are ground up nuts in the sauce as well. Pistou has no nuts in it. See that? You learn something new every day. Unless I was the only one who didn't already know what pistou was, which is entirely possible. I should warn you that aside from being very delicious, pistou is also extremely garlicky. Which I personally love, but you gotta love garlic to like this one. If you do, we are all set.

So the first thing you do is make that pistou, which entails whirling fresh basil in your food processor with garlic and just enough olive oil to make a thick sauce. Cook the ravioli halfway and toss them in olive oil, and then you are ready to assemble. Pull out your favorite single serving baking dishes (although if you want to make this in one big casserole I am sure that would be perfectly fine) and layer in ravioli, some crumbled goat cheese and a spoonful of pistou. One more layer of ravioli, drizzle with cream, a generous layer of grated Parmesan and pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Take them out, scatter some pine nuts and chopped fresh basil on top, and there you go. Yum, right??

BAKED RAVIOLI WITH GOAT CHEESE AND PISTOU

• 1 large bunch fresh basil (save a few leaves for garnish)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 8 ounce package fresh ravioli
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Pine nuts for garnish

1. Process basil and garlic in food processor until minced very fine. Add enough olive oil to make a thick sauce. This is the pistou

2. Cook ravioli for half the package cooking time. Drain and toss with remaining oil.

3. Butter 4 individual serving dishes and layer ingredients as follows, dividing ingredients into quarters: layer of ravioli, goat cheese, pistou, remaining ravioli, cream and parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until ravioli starts to turn golden at the edges.

5. Serve garnished with pine nuts and chopped basil.

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