Fresh vegetables, cheesy ravioli, and bottled pesto make for an amazing, easy, and oh so flavorful, asparagus ravioli pasta salad! Eat it hot or cold.
I love entertaining, but the older I get, the more stressed I get when it comes to throwing a party. If you came to my house you would probably not think I am very concerned about tidiness or cleanliness, but the fact is, I am actually kind of a freak about it. The only thing is, I live with 5 other people, and none of them feel the same way. Rather than drive myself insane, I just make sure a minimum standard is met, and try to ignore the rest. It is a constant battle for me.
AND…when I throw a party, I get anxiety about messes. I want every cupboard, closet, and nook and cranny to be organized, tidy, and deep cleaned, just in case. And frankly it is just not possible to have my whole house perfect at the same time because I have too many kids and too many responsibilities. And so, parties stress me out now because I worry about my house not being organized or clean ENOUGH!
So because I know myself well enough to know that 15 minutes before guests should be arriving I will likely start to clean out my freezer and make sure it is spic and span, I have to stick to foods that are easy, or can be made ahead. This recipe fits both criteria.
While I prefer this recipe freshly made, it holds up pretty well in the fridge. And it can be served hot or cold for a fantastic, and veggie chock, main course or side dish!
And since it uses a bottled pesto, and store bought ravioli, it can literally be thrown together in a matter of minutes. One of the tricks is using the water that boils the pasta to par cook the asparagus and zucchini so they are tender, and delicious, but still hold some crispness. Mmmmm.
So now that you know my secret, let’s get to the recipe.
Asparagus Ravioli Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Cheese Ravioli
- 1 lb asparagus
- 1- 8 ounce bottle prepared Pesto
- 2 fresh roma tomatoes
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 cup Parmesan
Instructions
- Chop zucchini and tomatoes
- Snap the end of the asparagus off, and rough chop
- Cook ravioli according to package directions
- With 2 minutes left in ravioli cook time, add in the asparagus and zucchini to the pot with the ravioli
- Finish boiling for 2 minutes, then strain ravioli and vegetables
- In a large bowl toss ravioli and vegetables with pesto, parmesan, and tomatoes
- Serve immediately, or cover and chill
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Love Pasta? Try some of these:
Cheesy Sausage and Green Bean Skillet Pasta
Diane Brislan says
This is delicious!!! Used spinach ravioli, excellent! Definitely a repeat recipe.
Sally Hagenbuch says
I’ve never used pesto. Could yo give me some some examples or recommendations.
The pictures look amazing. I think this may be something my 96 yr old mom might like. Thanks
Sally