GUEST POST - Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream

Today I would like to welcome Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny as the first guest blogger on The Food Mentalist. Kelly's blog is so vibrant and exciting, presenting fresh, healthy and easy to follow recipes. It is for these reasons that I often find myself perusing her blog. Kelly also  provides readers with the nutritional information and points value for each of her recipes, you have got to love that! 


Make sure you head on over and check out her fantastic healthy recipes at Eat Yourself Skinny .


I would like to thank Kelly for taking the time to provide us with this delicious recipe. Please welcome her and enjoy making this great dish!

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Hey guys!  I’m Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny and I’m SO excited to be sharing this guest post with you all today for my favorite Aussie Erin!  Her blog The Food Mentalist has always been one of my favorites and the passion she has for cooking is incredibly infectious!  She’s actually guest posting on my blog right now so go check out her Delicious Tuna Rigatoni.  It looks amazing!

So I must confess…despite always trying to eat healthy, I absolutely LOVE pasta!!  Seriously, it’s my biggest weakness.  I’m constantly trying to find new ways to lighten up classic Italian dishes and it is always very exciting when I’m successful.  I found this particular recipe on a fluke from Southern Living while searching for dishes containing basil.  I literally have SO much of this herb on hand that I was worried it would go bad so I wanted to use it all as soon as possible (as you can see I hate wasting anything).

Anyway, this Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream was outstanding and definitely one of our new favorites!  I mean you really can’t go wrong with ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes, white wine and fresh basil…yum!!  The combination of flavors was delicious and the extra wine we had left over wasn’t too bad either ;)

The original recipe called for a jar of Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta Sauce, but I lightened this up by using my light Alfredo recipe and adding sun-dried tomatoes.  I thought it turned out really great and I was able to cut a lot of the fat that a typical Alfredo sauce would normally have containing heavy cream.  {If you’re not concerned with calories and want something quick and easy, go ahead and by the pre-made sauce, it will still taste delicious!}  Add your wine, diced tomatoes and basil and you’ve got a kickin’ sauce!  Feel free to substitute the ravioli with three-cheese tortellini if you wish, either one would taste wonderful!

Thanks again Erin for inviting me to guest post on your fabulous blog!  Hope you all enjoy this dish as much as we did and I’d love for you to stop by Eat Yourself Skinny for more lightened up recipes!

Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Southern Living

1 (20 oz) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of skim milk

1 cup of chicken broth

4 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 cup (6 oz) chopped or julienned sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

1/2 cup grated low-fat Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp white wine

2 medium-size fresh tomatoes, chopped OR 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, full drained

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Prepare ravioli according to package directions.  In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and sauté until golden brown.  

In a small saucepan, stir together milk, chicken broth, 3 Tbsp flour (save 1 Tbsp of flour for later), salt and pepper over low heat until smooth and thick.  Stir into garlic and add sun-dried tomatoes.  Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick.  Add the Tbsp of flour (for additional thickness) and stir in with Parmesan cheese.

Allow sauce to thicken up a bit then stir in wine, chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil.  Cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Toss with ravioli and garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped basil.  Enjoy!