Buitoni Riserva

Happy Sunday! First, if you were interested in the Coconut Curry Scallops I posted about last week, please check out the Travessia Wine Blog for the official recipe card. 🙂

Second, there are TWO giveaways going on, one for Harvard Sweet Boutique cookies and another to help Taza Chocolate recover from last week’s flooding. . . Check em out!

A long time ago, Foodbuzz sent its tastemakers a coupon for a free Buitoni pasta or sauce. Unfortunately, since we rarely shop at “regular” grocery stores, it took me months to actually come across the pasta while shopping. I was at Market Basket, a store whose prices bring a little bit of heaven and obnoxious crowds bring a little bit of hell, and found Buitoni’s Chicken and Four Cheese Ravioli, perfect for a quick dinner after a long day in the sun.

I also picked up Buitoni’s alfredo sauce. I rarely buy pasta sauces, but with the tiredness setting in, I decided to go for it and to doctor up the sauce to make it my own creation.

I started by sautéing thinly sliced zucchini, onion, garlic, and mushrooms in a tiny bit of olive oil. In the meantime, I started water boiling for the ravioli and got the sauce into a little pan of its own.

To jazz up the alfredo sauce, I added fresh ground nutmeg from the never ending nutmeg supply we bought in Grenada on our honeymoon. I also added ground black pepper.

Once the zucchini had softened, and the ravioli were done, I drained them, mixed everything together, and added the sauce.

I was surprised at how good the ravioli and sauce were. I am pretty wary of packaged sauces and pastas, but I really liked these and would buy them again in a heartbeat for a quick meal. Thanks, Foodbuzz, for the opportunity to try Buitoni products!

Do you tend to make your own sauces/pastas, or do you prefer store bought? If you are more “semi-homemade” what are your favorite tricks for jazzing up a packaged food?