Spinach Ricotta Cavatelli With Tomato Sauce.

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato (not packed in oil)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 lbs plum tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat ricotta cheese (12 ounces)
• 1/4 cup thawed frozen spinach, squeezed dry and chopped
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semolina
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Recipe

• 1 make the cavatelli: put the ricotta, spinach, egg yolk and olive oil in a food processor and process to a paste.
• 2 add the flour, semolina, salt and pepper and process until the mixture comes together to form a ball.
• 3 scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly.
• 4 wrap the dough in plastic and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• 5 make the sauce: cover the sun-dried tomatoes with hot water and let soak until plumped, about 25 minutes. drain well and coarsely chop, then transfer to a mini-processor and puree.
• 6 heat the oil in a saucepan. add the fresh tomatoes and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the tomatoes release their juices, about 3 minutes.
• 7 add the basil and chicken stock, cover and simmer over low heat until the tomatoes are very soft, about 5 minutes. strain the sauce, pressing on the tomatoes to extract as much sauce as possible. stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and season with salt and black pepper.
• 8 cut the cavatelli dough into 10 equal pieces. on a lightly floured work surface, using both hands, roll out each piece of dough into a 1/2 -inch-thick rope.
• 9 with a fork, cut the rope into 1/2 -inch pieces. press the side of the fork lengthwise into the center of each piece. set the cavatelli on a lightly floured baking sheet.
• 10 in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the cavatelli in batches, stirring, until they rise to the surface, about 4 minutes. drain the cavatelli and divide them among 8 shallow bowls.
• 11 pour 1/2 cup of the hot tomato sauce over each portion and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of the parmesan cheese.