Lobster Ravioli with Crab Meat Tomato Cream Sauce

I love Trader Joe's. So many unique things are always waiting to be found when I wander about the store aisles. My gym is located above a Trader Joe's so I often stop in after work-outs before getting into my car to head home. The other day I came across a package of Trader Joe's brand Lobster Ravioli (less than $5 - such a steal!) and I decided it was worth a try. I also grabbed a can of Trader Joe's brand canned crab meat which is packed from crab caught in the gulf of Thailand and then wrapped in tissue before being canned to preserve full flavor (no preservatives are added).

I had originally planned to serve the pasta with a simple herbed green salad but at the last minute I found some gorgeous haricots verts  (French green beans) that I decided to steam and toss in a light dressing alongside the ravioli.

First for the haricots verts simply microwave steam them in a bag for 3-4 minutes until gently steamed and still a but crunchy. Place steaming green beans in a serving dish and toss with basic dressing (recipe below) and top with some fresh ground pepper. 

Basic Dressing 

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (I used grainy country dijon)

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil 

Squeeze of Lemon

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Salt

Pepper

Method:

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Leave the bowl standing while you are making the ravioli and right before you are ready to serve, pour the dressing through a fine strainer over the haricots verts. Make sure you don't skip the straining part as you won't want to eat chunks of the raw garlic that you added into the dressing but you definitely want to extract the flavor from that garlic in your dressing.

Next you can start boiling water (with a bit of salt) for your ravioli and begin putting together your sauce. This sauce is super simple and OH SO GOOD. Get all of your ingredients together first (remember my blog entry on mise en place?!) and then heat a large sauté pan. The ravioli will take about 5 minutes to cook once you add them to the boiling water and the sauce will take about 10 minutes all together. 

Crab meat Tomato Cream Sauce 

Ingredients:

4 ounces crab meat

5 ounces tomato sauce

10 ounces cream

2 ounces dry white wine

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon shallot, chopped 

salt

white pepper

Method:

After heating a large sauté pan, add the butter and shallots and cook until the shallots appear translucent. Next add your crab meat and cook for 2-3 minutes more and then add the white wine and let the wine reduce by half. After that add the tomato sauce and cream and again let reduce by half until you have a thick and creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve sauce under ravioli and top with fresh shaved Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!