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?

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