Creamy tomato cheese ravioli

mmm....This one was good!  I found a recipe for Tuscan Ravioli online but pretty much didn't have any ingredients that it asked for and ended up having to definitely improvise to get what I needed.  Although the basics are there, so here is the original 

What you need:

1-2 packs of cheese Ravioli (depending on the amount per bag and the number of people). This ravioli is from Kaufland in Konstanz.
1 box of Thomy Cream Sauce
1 small jar of Tapenade (a bag of sun dried tomatoes)
2 diced tomatoes
Parmigiano cheese for grating over the top
2 Tbsp of white wine (I just used some of the wine we drank with it - it was fantastic! (Alsace Grand Cru Hengst Pinot Gris from Carrefour in Mullhouse)
1/2 a bunch of basil (chopped)


Boil some water and cook the ravioli as directed.

Pour the sauces in a saucepan and mix to combine.  Add the diced tomatoes and wine. Let cook until heated through and then add the chopped basil.

Drain the ravioli and put on a plate (or bowl).  Add some of the sauce and top with grated cheese (and a basil sprig if you'd like).

Serve with garlic bread (currently -.39 euros in Kaufland).  Enjoy with a nice glass of chilled white wine.

Bread soup - Brotsuppe

It's funny how something can sound one way in one language and another in a different one.  Bread soup.  Sounds very unexciting.  However, when you look at it in German, Brotsuppe, it looks much more appealing (although this is changing as my German is improving), but I think it's much more exciting to try something that has a 'foreign' name than trying that exact same recipe in your native language.

In any case - it's Winter so I have now moved on to the winter section of my Migros cookbook.  I did make a few changes in this recipe (and it still didn't end up looking quite like the picture but it still turned out to be a good side).

What you need:

180-200g Ruchbrot, day old (which means if you have a bread box, don't leave it in there as it will not get dry)
2 small or 1 medium sized onion (I did end up using a 2nd onion)
Peanut oil for frying the onions/bread
6 cups vegetable bouillon
nutmeg and pepper to taste
1 tsp of Anis (recipe called for 1 Tbls of caraway but I didn't have any).  Feel free to add more.  I thought it was enough to add to the flavor but I don't like licorice so didn't want to add any more.
a pinch of salt.

Cut the bread into cubes and slice the onions.  Put the oil in the pan and give it a minute to heat up.  Add the bread and onion and cook until the bread starts to turn a golden brown.  About 5/6 minutes.  Make sure your pan is big enough to hold all the bread.

Add the broth, anis and a bit of nutmeg and pepper.  Add only a very little salt.   Simmer for 20 minutes.  If you need more liquid, either add very hot water or more broth.  If you cook on too high of a temperature you will need to add a bit more.

This makes a great side dish.  And, since my soup was made out of bread, I couldn't use my bread bowls this time but I found some really cute little bowls in France yesterday (more about Mullhouse vs. Konstanz later).