Simple Weeknight Dinner for One

Since recently entering the realms of the employed, my schedule has (duh!) gotten a bit busier. My delightful beau has been working late at his new internship. These two factors cause me (a)to arrive home later and a bit more fatigued, and (b)to cook for one. Under these circumstances, I normally melt some good cheese on bread and/or nuke some Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup–Very tasty, but last night, I was looking to mix things up. So, I devised a pretty gosh darn tasty solution to the solo/pretty tired dinner conundrum.

Over the weekend, I had bought some frozen spinach ravioli that was on sale at the supermarket. Priced at $1.49 a bag, I tempered my expectations, hoped for the best, and planned on doctoring them up a bit when the need for a quick and easy dinner cropped up. When the opportunity arose last night, I put a pot of water on the stove for the ravioli, and while waiting for the water to boil, heated some olive oil in a small skillet, thinly sliced 1/4 of an onion and added it to the hot oil. By the time the water boiled, the onions and had softened and had begun to caramelize. After adding the ravioli to the water, I added a minced clove of garlic to the skillet and turned down the heat. I snipped some ribbons of fresh basil into the pan and seasoned with salt and pepper. By now the ravioli was done (only 3 minutes!) and I tossed it with the ingredients in the skillet, along with a laddle of starchy pasta water. Once the water had evaporated, I allowed the ravioli to crisp for a minute or two in pan, becoming golden brown around the edges. Onto the plate the ravioli’s went, along with a simple sliced tomato salad and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.  Delicious.