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!



Comments

  1. Looks fabulous!! Thank you so much Erin for inviting me to guest post!! :)

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  2. Kelly did it again! Beautiful and healthy!Nice to meet you Erin! New follower.
    - Jessica @ http://cajunlicious.com

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  3. Delicious Kelly! Erin I'm glad to have found your blog! I'm a follower now too :) Come check out my blog if you're so inclined: http://Andrea-thekitchenwitch.blogspot.com

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  4. This looks soo good Kelly! I can't wait to try.

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  5. Looks so delicious! I can't wait to try it! I've been having pasta cravings for over 2 weeks. Guess tonight is the lucky night! I'm glad I found this recipe.

    If you'd like check out my blog at http://gourmandelle.blogspot.com maybe you'll find something you like. Have a great day!

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  6. Look fab!! I love how you lightened the sauce, perfect summer meal!! thank you for sharing!!

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  7. This is yum! I love pastas, too! I try to eat healthy but it's just too difficult for me so as much as possible, I just eat in moderation but I just can't say "NO" to pasta. I'll be killed because of pasta, you know.

    Oh thanks for posting this one! I'll ask my friend to prepare this for me since she loves pasta like I do (teehee...I don't know how to cook)

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  8. This looks amazing! I love stuffed pasta and this one definitely looks delicious.

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  9. Yep this looks pretty fantastic!

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  10. Oh wow, this looks fantastic..what a great dish, and pictures are so tempting and making me hungry right now:))..Congrats Kelly on the guest post and nice to meet you Erin..

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  11. This sounds like a delicious sauce Kelly! Wonderful job on the guest post!

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  12. This is a wonderful Guest Post and great Recipe! Look so good...

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  13. Kelly, thanks again, it was great fun.

    Thanks to my new visitors for stopping by :)
    Gourmandelle - I love your blog! is there any way to leave comments? I can't wait to make that banana and chocolate pudding, yummo!

    Great to meet you all. I look forward to sharing lots of delicious recipes with you all xx

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  14. A nice recipe and very good that you lightened it a little i just love both sundried tomatoes and basil.

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  15. This looks delicious! Have you tried it with home made ravioli? You can use won ton shells as your pasta wrap if you've never made pasta! I haven't made pasta in years (trying to cut carbs) but this sauce looks like it would go great with chicken or pork!

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  16. Simple and delicious...this is such a winner :)

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  17. Good job Kelly! Looks out of this world AMAZING! Love pasta dishes like this...

    You the girl!

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  18. Oh heavens, that looks absolutely amazing. I love pasta as well and especially with cream sauce. I hate the fact that the marinara sauce is the healthier choice because my eyes and taste buds automatically head toward cream; with sun dried tomatoes and wine; yup, this is perfect.

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  19. Just found you through Kelly's blog.
    This looks heavenly! Just had my lunch, but I could easily finish the plate of pasta!

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  20. Wow that looks so creamy and good! You really wouldn't think that it was low fat!

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  21. I've actually made that original recipe several times, it is SO good! I'm lovin this lightened version of it!

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  22. That recipe, Kelly! Being Italian myself, I know how hard it is to try to stay away from pasta, but I love that she was able to create a cream sauce that's not loaded with heavy cream and butter! I would totally give this one a try!

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  23. This sauce is making my mouth water, all that fresh basil looks so good!

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  24. Wow this is impressive. So lovely and fresh. Great job.

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  25. this looks amazing! I def. will be making this soon!

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  26. Great guest post Kelly! I love Eat Yourself Skinny, and this pasta dish sounds so good! Can't wait to use my bounties of basil to make it =)

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  27. Great guest post and the idea of a basil cream sounds delectable!

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  28. Thanks for the post Kelly! Anything with the words 'sun-dried tomato' and 'creamy' in it has me licking my lips. Will give this a try before the weather starts heating up. (p.s you are not alone with your pasta weakness).

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  29. How many calories are in a serving? I made this for dinner tomorrow night at work.

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  30. what is the serving size and how many calories?! i want to make this asap!

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  31. Any idea how many calories, fat, etc is in this dish? Looks amazing!

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  32. This smells great! i love it..never worry about calories when you love it just eat it. How Many Calories Counter

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  33. It looks so delicious! I need to try it soon!

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  34. Made this tonight. The flavor is really good. Next time I will use less tomatoes, more cheese and a little less broth as it was an overwhelming amount of tomatoes for us and a little runny. All in all I will use this recipes again! Thanks.

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  35. This is one of the true Tuscany recipes that I hope to savor one day. It looks exquisite and very delectable.

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  36. Is there an alternative to use for the wine?

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  37. Hi, Yes you can use little more stock or verjuice :) Happy cooking x

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