Refrigerated ravioli has been on sale at both the normal grocery store as well as the discount outlet in our area. The best by date wasn’t too near, and even if it had been you can freeze the pasta without doing damage. The bacon filling was alright. The ones with shrimp and lobster were a little bit fishy for us landlubbers. The third package was labeled as having an artichoke filling–something I wasn’t sure would go over well.
It seems like we’ve been eating tomatoes with almost every meal for the past couple of weeks, so when I was looking for ideas of how to serve the artichoke ravioli I was pleased to find several non-tomato recipes. I’d used a pint of whipping cream in the past week, so I decided not to prepare the Alfredo and pesto spinach bake. Lemon and capers weren’t exactly what I had in mind, either. So, I just followed the suggestion that was printed on the package of ravioli: Brussels sprouts and carrots (no cauliflower in this house!).
Vegetables were on-hand, so it wasn’t “necessary” to visit a grocery store. I halved a handful of Brussels sprouts and browned them cut-side down in bacon grease in a cast-iron skillet, before finishing them off under the broiler in the toaster oven. Baby carrots weren’t too hard to slice; the water for boiling the pasta softened them up before I mixed them with the Brussels sprouts and a maple-balsamic vinaigrette.
As noted on the bag, the ravioli was cooked in just 4 minutes. The filling had a pleasantly creamy texture and the flavor wasn’t too green.
I was satisfied, but I must admit that we had eaten some chicken nuggets as a late afternoon snack only an hour or so before!
KZ Kitchen 