We had a bunch of people from Ross's work over last week, and there were some vegetarians in the group, so I had to step outside of my comfort zone and do a non-meat dinner. I looked to our friend Heidi's lovely, beautiful, idea-laden vegetarian recipe site, 101 Cookbooks, for some winning ideas. I settled on something she introduced me to a few months back, and that is without a doubt the favorite new cooking thing I learned this year- pesto made with asparagus and spinach instead of basil. But what to put it on?

After toying with the idea of making homemade cheese ravioli, I decided to stop by Lucca Ravioli and pick up a couple boxes of their famous homemade stuff. Lucca has been on the corner of Valencia and 22nd for as long as I can remember which isn't too surprising since it looks straight out of another era. It feels like a place you find more easily in Brooklyn than SF which is part of the appeal.


The iconic Lucca Ravioli box.

The ravioli was a hit with the asparagus pesto. It was tender and well-flavored. I served it with a hearty panzanella (bread salad) and we had homemade peach-strawberry pie for dessert. Even the carnivores in the crowd, myself included, were happy and full after the meal!