First and Second Helping: Buitoni Pasta and Chicken Sausage Sandwiches

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a coupon for a free Buitoni pasta or sauce from the folks at FoodBuzz. I had never tried Buitoni's products before, so I was excited to sample some of their items. In the letter that accompanied the coupon, FoodBuzz recommended I try Buitoni's Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti, which is ravioli filled with imported Grana Padano, Parmesan, Ricotta, Fontina, and garlic.

Quick note: This particular package of Buitoni pasta would have cost me $4.89 if I didn't have the coupon - and it only feeds two people. Personally, I'd normally just buy a box of pasta that can feed 6 or 7 people for less than $4.

Buitoni recommended, for this particular pasta, that a light sauce is best since the pasta itself contains so much flavor. Taking their advice, I made a simple sauce of olive oil, white wine, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper - all cooked up with frozen veggies from the supermarket.

 

This bag of veggies has been my savior for so many meals - it contains red, green and yellow bell peppers, along with onions - all cut up and ready for me to cook/eat! In terms of the pasta dish, the end result was pillow-like ravioli chocked full of all those aforementioned, delicious cheeses - Buitoni was correct when they said the pasta holds a lot of flavor. My summery, white wine sauce was also the perfect accompaniment to the pasta - if the sauce were any heavier, it easily would have been too much, especially with all of the cheeses.

A few days later, I was still dreaming about my white wine sauce, so I used it elsewhere - in my Chicken Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches:

Chicken Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches

Yields: 2 servings

-2 links of sweet Italian-style chicken sausage, fully cooked (I used Al Fresco brand)

-1 cup Birds Eye Stir-fry Vegetables, frozen (as pictured above)

-White wine

-1 tsp. minced garlic

-Italian seasoning

-Salt and pepper

-2 tbsp. olive oil

-Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

-2 bulkie rolls (I used When Pigs Fly brand)

Directions: Brown sausage on all sides in a frying pan with 1 tbsp. olive oil, then take off heat. In a separate saute pan, heat up the other 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add stir fry vegetables, then sprinkle in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are soft, then add garlic. Once garlic is fragrant (about 20 to 30 seconds), add a few splashes of white wine. Slice sausage into 1-inch discs, and place in pan with vegetables. Serve heaping spoonfuls of sausage mixture on each roll, and top with shredded cheese.

This sandwich was seriously awesome. Again, the light oil and wine sauce worked beautifully with the veggies and sausage. This dish was filling, yet easy and light enough to enjoy on a day that's 90 degrees outside.

Have you tried Buitoni's products? Do you think they're worth the extra few bucks? Why or why not?

Second helping pizza

Growing up in my parents' house, leftovers for dinner was a regular occurrence. There were six of us total, so when my Mom cooked, she cooked enough for an army - and we'd eat the leftovers until they were gone. So when I started cooking for myself in college, I realized that you can still use the same leftovers (as I hate wasting food), but you can turn them into a new dish the next night, to prevent a horrific case of Dinner Boredom.

And that's what I did the other night. I used up the rest of the chicken sausage from my whole wheat pasta recipe (I had frozen the leftover sausage), bought some pizza crust and crumbled goat cheese, and used up the rest of the arugula in my fridge to make one healthy, indulgent pizza.

The crust I used was Molinaro's Thin Crust ($4.49 at Hannaford), which comes with two pizza crusts, both with their own package of pizza sauce. The end result was a crispy, decadent pizza, and the Italian chicken sausage paired perfectly with the creamy, tangy goat cheese and peppery arugula.

How have you used leftovers to make a brand new meal?

Whole wheat pasta with chicken sausage & arugula

I have been a horrible blogger lately - but my mini vacation to Bethel, Maine was so worth the lack of blogging (blog post to come on that trip - $2 breakfast, anyone?). But for now, I promised you a whole wheat pasta with chicken sausage and arugula recipe - so a pasta recipe you shall get.

I actually saw a tweet on Twitter a few weeks ago about using chicken sausage in pasta, and I thought it was genius. I am not a big fan of regular sausage, and I love vegetarian sausage - but I never even thought of picking up some chicken-based sausage. It was pretty affordable too, although I forget the actual price (I am a horrible blogger, after all). I almost always have whole wheat pasta in my pantry, and I had a bag of arugula and a few tomatoes in the fridge - so all I had to do was pick up the sausage for this meal.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Sausage & Arugula
Yields: 2 servings

-2 Trader Joe's Sweet Italian Style Chicken Sausages
-2 cups arugula
-1-1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
-2 cups whole wheat pasta (I used rotini), cooked
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-White wine
-Crushed red pepper
-1 tbsp. minced garlic, jarred
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Dried parsley
-Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions: In a saucepan, heat up sausages until browned on each side. Take off pan, and cut into slices once cooled. In a separate pan, heat up olive oil and cook arugula until almost completely wilted. Add crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, and dried parsley. Cook for about 30 seconds, then add tomatoes, garlic, and sliced sausage. Add a quick pour of white wine, and let cook off for 15 seconds, then add cooked pasta. Stir, and add shredded mozzarella cheese.

This dish was so satisfying, and took 30 minutes (max) to make!

Are you a fan of chicken sausage? How have you used it in a recipe?