Ravioli in Broth with Arugula

Monday and Tuesdays in the Winter, after a long day of work, often all I want to cook, or eat for that matter, is a steaming pot of soup. Making soup at the beginning of week usually means I get at least one lunch out of it, also a bonus. Dave and I are usually ready for a lighter dinner when the start of the week rolls around. While Dave graded tests, I whipped up a quick pot, and we were able to take 10 minutes out of our busy evenings to huddle together around our bowls of vegetables, pasta, broth and cheese. 

One of my go to recipes for soup is this Three Cheese Mushroom and Tortellini Soup from my favourite healthy cooking site Skinnytaste. That recipes method of using a parmesan rind to flavour the broth, very much inspired this one. Cooking stuffed pasta in a broth and calling it a soup is a wonderful way to enjoy pasta, without a ton of guilt. You get the satisfaction of ravioli, but you're not eating a plateful in a butter laden sauce. I like to put arugula on/in anything I possibly can - and I loved the freshness it added to this soup.

Ravioli in Broth with Arugula

4 Servings

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

salt and peper

7-8 cups (or two 900 ml boxes) vegetable broth

1 parmesan rind (leftover or cut off a fresh block)

350 g (or one package) fresh spinach and cheese ravioli (Olivieri is great)

3 cups or large handfuls arugula

fresh parmesan shavings

Melt butter in a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot over medium low heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook vegetables slowly until soft, stirring once and a while to ensure the vegetables aren't browning, just steaming slowly, about 10 minutes. 

Pour in vegetable broth, add in parmesan rind, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove lid and add in ravioli, cook in broth until al dente, according to package directions (usually about 3-4 mins). Toss in arugula, stir, turn off heat.

Remove and discard parmesan rind. Spoon soup into bowls and christen with parmesan curls. Curl up and enjoy. 

If you're lucky to have a serving left, this makes a great lunch the next day. Because all the broth was soaked up, mine was more pasta then soup, but you will not find me complaining about that.