Merry Christmas Eve! Christmas Dinner #4 + Gorgonzola & Walnut Ravioli with Pear Butter Recipe!

Merry Christmas Eve Follow Me Foodie Readers!

Christmas Dinner #4 + My Recipe for Gorgonzola & Walnut Ravioli with Pear, Oregano & Pink Peppercorn Butter

Christmas Dinner #4 – Baked chicken, Bacon wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Demi Glace, Lasagne, and Roasted Veggies.

Merry Christmas Eve or Happy Christmas Eve? Well whichever one works for you is the one I meant to use! So Christmas dinner #4 happened last night. It was another annual potluck with a different group of friends I’d like to call “The Execs”. Again we separate the categories into appetizer, protein, starch, a “side protein”, vegetables, and dessert. It was another delicious meal and everyone pulled their weight. I took appetizer this time. I find I’m usually appetizer or dessert, which is what I prefer.

If you’ve just joined, here’s a recap. I had a Jazzed Up Christmas High Tea at Tracycakes Bakery & Cafe followed by Christmas Dinner #2 at  Giraffe Restaurant. See here for Christmas Dinner 3 – Potluck + My Recipe for: Pumpkin Custard & Cake Ice Cream Sundae with Walnuts, Figs, Chestnuts & Warm Spices. Served in a pool of Frothy Ice Milk, Butterscotch Popcorn & A Salted Chocolate Pretzel Ball.

For Christmas Dinner #4 I decided to make a Gorgonzola & Walnut Ravioli with Pear, Oregano & Pink Peppercorn Butter topped with Crispy Cauliflower Florets. Trust me, my recipes sound more complicated than they are! I’m no professional chef, so anyone can do it as long as they’re somewhat comfortable in the kitchen.

As usual I winged the recipe again, but I had the ingredients worked out in my head. So, for those last minute Christmas/Holiday recipes, here’s another one you may want to consider. It’s vegetarian again, but you could easily add crispy bacon to it and it would taste great. It’s a play off from the Yam & Gnocchi with Apricot Stilton, Pecans & Honey Butter Sauce recipe I posted last week, but at the same time totally different. Thanks to Bosa Foods again for helping me out with some of the ingredients!

**The measurements are an estimation so please adjust as you see fit.

Recipe: Gorgonzola & Walnut Ravioli with Pear, Oregano & Pink Peppercorn Butter topped with Crispy Cauliflower Florets.

Ingredients:

This recipe serves 4.

Available at Bosa Foods.

• _____ g of Gorgonzola Walnut Ravioli
  • $14.95/kg
  • There are other varieties and brands out there and certainly feel free to make your own, but if you’re looking to save some time, then this is an option.
  • The inside is quite pastey and the texture is of ricotta cheese mixed with some pureed walnut. I could taste the Gorgonzola, but it’s not too strong.
  • The filling doesn’t taste 100% like Gorgonzola and walnuts, and I’m not enthusiastic about it, but it’s okay and just needs some help.
• 1 semi-ripe Bartlett pear
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tsp Pink peppercorns
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 sprigs Oregano (They ran out of Sage at the grocery store, but Oregano worked!)
• Splash of red wine
• Salt and pepper to taste

Crispy Cauliflower Florets Recipe

• 1/4 cup cauliflower florets
• Lemon pepper and salt
• 1 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Bring salted water to a boil and cook ravioli according to instructions.

2. Peel, core and dice the pear.

3. Melt butter in a pan on medium. Add pear. Add honey, nutmeg, salt and pink peppercorns. Cook until it flavours combine and butter is slightly browned.

4. Add Oregano leaves and splash of red wine. Add toasted walnuts and continue cooking until alcohol is cooked off and sauce is brown (another 7 min.) Remove from heat.

5. In a separate pan, melt butter. Add cauliflower florets (broken into very small florets) into melted butter. Add lemon pepper and salt to taste. Pan fry the florets until caramelized, brown and crispy. Should take at least 15 minutes on medium high heat. For last 3 minutes cook over high heat.

6. Drain ravioli and plate. Pour pear, walnuts, oregano and pink peppercorn butter over ravioli. Top with crispy cauliflower florets and garnish with fresh Oregano leaves.

Follow Me Foodie Tasty Twists & Fast Track

I made my own spicy pear butter, but if you want to fast track Bosa Foods offers an excellent Okanagan Falls Spicy Pear Deluxe Spread (Bosa Foods) that would work really well. It’s sweet with some real diced pears and it’s almost like a jam or jelly with a slight kick.

To use it in my recipe just replace the pears and honey with this spread, or keep my recipe and just add 2 tbsp of this spread + 2 tbsp of water and a pinch of salt.  The pink peppercorns are optional. I was actually inspired by this ingredient and that’s how I came up with the pear & pink peppercorn idea.

• Also use Spicy Pear and Spicy Fig spread on a cheese plate, on toast, or desserts!
• Try my recipe with the Spicy Fig sauce as well – just take out the measurements for honey, pears and pink peppercorns and replace with the amount of spread.
• There’s also a Spicy Orange to experiment with, in which case I would replace the splash of red wine in my recipe with a splash of orange juice + zest.

Italissimi – Fresh Unripened Goat Cheese with Truffle – 140g $4.29 (Bosa Foods)

• I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would go nicely with my Gorgonzola & Walnut Ravioli Recipe. I’d like to crumble  a little over top and I think it would add a nice creaminess and the hint of truffle would made for an interesting flavour.

Follow Me Foodie Tasty Twist Ideas with Goat Cheese with Truffle

• This would also be good just to serve with the Spicy Pear or Spicy Fig Spread on a cheese plate.
• Baguette + Spread + Goat Cheese with Truffle
• Use in replace of cream cheese for stuffed mushrooms.
• Add a little to your mashed potatoes for a gourmet side.

The Dessert! DQ Ice Cream Cake with Diamond Crusted Chocolates! … So if it wasn’t going to be “home made”…

… then I had to make a personal request for an “expensive dessert with diamonds alongside my chocolate” – and I got it!! 🙂