Tomato vs. Chocolate. No Competition

Thursday, March 08, 2007

We've been gradually working our way through the homemade tomato sauce we stored in the freezer (and so we fortuitously made room just in time to accommodate a new stash of Girl Scout cookies. 'Tis the season, and Thin Mints are my weakness.)

Tomato sauce made from our own tomatoes is delicious in its own right, but it's 10 times better when it's bathing a plateful of homemade ravioli. My wonderful husband made these beautiful gems from scratch. With pasta he stretched into a long strip, he lovingly placed dollops of mixed cheeses and ham, and stamped out these perfectly-square packets of extraordinary goodness. I am a lucky woman, I know.


Now if you're wondering if I helped make the ravioli, the answer is no, only because hubby wouldn't let me in the kitchen. It could have been because a.) he didn't want me getting in his way of the intense pasta-making process. But more likely it was b.) he was cooking up a surprise dessert. (As if homemade raviolis weren't enough, right?)

So I was sitting in the living room, trying to ignore the increasingly loud rumbles from my hungry stomach, when I started to smell... chocolate.

"DO NOT COME IN THE KITCHEN!" Michael called, accompanied by the steady hum of the pasta-stretching machine and the syncopated clanking of various cooking instruments.

What's he doing in there? Making a chocolate cake, too? I wondered.

Moments later, we sat down to enjoy a wonderful pasta feast. Each lovingly crafted ravioli was caressed with the red-ripe riches of last season's tomato crop. The savory sauce was dotted with various herbs, including a few needles of our now-gone rosemary. (Oh, the poor rosemary!) There were memories of gardening days gone by -- and a bit of sunshine -- in every bite.

Afterwards, I felt completely satiated, but not so much so that I wouldn't have room for chocolate cake. (I always have room for chocolate cake). So Michael returned to the kitchen (still not allowing me in) and once again stirred up the chorus of clanking spoons and pots.

Then came the grand finale.

Chocolate ravioli.

Piping hot, preciously puffed-up pockets of homemade pasta... filled with ricotta cheese and chocolate... covered with hot chocolate sauce kissed with a touch of fresh orange.


Tomato sauce? Did somebody say something about tomato sauce?

The tomato sauce was good, but Chocolate Anything will win my heart every time. And presented as an unexpected and lovingly-made surprise from my husband, this was chocolate in its best form.