Creamy, Cheesy Baked Ravioli

Just when I thought I was going all healthy on myself, after making this and that earlier in the week, the weather took a turn and brought us a dusting of snow and chilly temperatures.

You know it's cold when it looks all blue outside.

When it's blue and chilly outside all I want to do is turn on the oven and make something comforting and rich. Preferably something with pasta and cheese.

Pasta and cheese really warms the soul.

Creamy, Cheesy Baked Ravioli

Serves 2

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Using good quality frozen ravioli makes this very easy to do. Choose whatever filling you like-- I used a basil, Asiago cheese and pine nut ravioli that went really well with the cheese sauce. Although ravioli stuffed with meat or mushrooms would probably be delicious with this sauce, too.

1 two-serving package of frozen ravioli

1/4 cup butter

4 ounces cream cheese

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon roasted garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the ravioli according to package directions. Drain and toss with a bit of olive oil in a bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add in the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Add in the milk, a small amount at a time, whisking continuously. Stir in garlic, nutmeg, Parmesan and a few turns of the pepper mill.

Continuing cooking until this sauce starts to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and pour the sauce over the ravioli. The sauce will be pretty soupy, but, don't worry, it will thicken up a lot in the oven.

Divide the ravioli between two oven-safe bowls.

Top with the bread crumbs and a couple sprinkles of the Parmesan cheese. Top the bread crumbs with a few small chunks of butter.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the tops have browned. Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Waiting to serve these is really hard...

You'll want to dig right into the cheesy goodness...

And take a big bite.

Enjoy.