Bertu Ravioli with Fresh Tomatoes & Bacon

Ber-what?

Lately on Saturday mornings we have been visiting the local farmers market in the parking lot of a local church on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, GA. This particular farmers market was started by Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch Public House in Atlanta (both HIGHLY recommended), a very well respected local chef with an emphasis on using locally sourced seasonal ingredients. This particular farmers market requires that everything sold there must be raised, grown or made by the seller from local farms within Georgia.

On a recent visit to the market we ran across Mike Patrick from Storico Fresco, who makes the most wonderful fresh pastas.  Many of his raviolis incorporate meats from local butchers (such as Pine Street Market in the booth next door). To complete the perfect loop of locally sourced ingredients, Storico Fresco provides many pastas for Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch!

So after chatting with Mike for a bit, we decided on a ravioli called Bertu (pork and cheese filled) that he recommended, and we brought it home with hopes of making something great.

Here is another example of taking some great product that we happened across and using it to make something simple and delightful.

Bertu Ravioli with Fresh Tomatoes & Bacon

Research:

Follow this link to learn a bit more about Bertu. It is essentially a pork and cheese filled ravioli. This pasta was really special, and we highly encourage you to try it out if you can find it fresh.

Our plan was to bring home this great pasta and make a red sauce to go with it. Pretty simple plan, huh? But wait, we can't just pour Ragu over it...

Plan:

Take some of the gourmet, thick-cut, organic bacon that we bought at the farmers market from Pine Street Market, saute' it with some onion, shallot, green beans and fresh tomatoes (fresh ingredients we already had in our pantry). Yes, we have some pork-on-pork crime here. Then add the pasta and serve.

While at it, we will throw in a salad with a homemade vinaigrette.

Execution:

Chop up some vegetables and a couple slices of bacon.

Then brown the bacon.

Did you notice how good that bacon looked?

Add in the onion, shallots and green beans.

Meanwhile, boil some water and put the pasta in for about 4 minutes. Fresh cooks fast!

Add in the fresh diced tomatoes and cook down for a few minutes.

Cooking the tomatoes down just a little. Don't go overboard. We want it to cook so long that it turned into a sauce.

Finally, pull the pasta out of the water and toss in the pan with the sauce for a few minutes just to meld the flavors together. Again, not so long that you overcook the pasta.

While the pasta and sauce were cooking, we prepped a salad to go with it. Again, stuff purchased at the farmers market coupled with a few homegrown vegetables.

Simple cherry tomatoes and a cucumber from our container garden, and romaine purchased at the farmers market. Now for a quick vinaigrette...

Vinaigrette is as follows:

2 oz- White wine vinegar, or any vinegar of your liking
2 oz- Olive oil
1 teaspoon Honey
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
a sprinkle of flat leaf parsley

Shake well and serve:

Then serve, and you have a wonderfully delicious but simple meal. The whole process was probably 20-30 minutes maximum.

Verdict:

Simple and delicious. This was more about us learning to do something original with a great product we happened across and rolling with the advice of the vendor, someone able to offer some great ideas. Thank you, Storico Fresco, we will be back soon -- very soon.

Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer