Spicy Red Pepper Ravioli with Maple Apple Chicken Sausage

I wanted to call this 'clean out the vegetable drawer pasta', but considering some of the unidentifiable things I've pulled out of my veggie drawer...I decided that wasn't a good idea!  One of my goals has been to decrease the amount of food that gets wasted in this house.  However, when you try to eat healthy, and cook with fresh ingredients...well....you know that fresh stuff just doesn't last that long!  I have a tendency to be really ambitious at the store, and buy a HUGE container of spinach - vowing to drink 'green monster smoothies' every morning...but then, more times than not, I do not want spinach for breakfast.  Silly me.

This is one of those dishes that will utilize all those remaining veggies...and still taste yummy.  It also comes together pretty quickly, which is always a bonus.

This is more of an outline than a recipe - since it can be modified to what ever you have on hand, and you can make as much or as little as you want.

The playas....
veggies
meat (optional)
pasta
sauce
cheese

I used spinach, 'matchstick' carrots, onion, garlic, maple apple chicken sausage, cheese filled ravioli, spicy red pepper spaghetti sauce.

Cook your (meat) chicken sausage in a skillet.  When almost done, turn heat down and add a little olive oil, if needed, and saute your (veggies) carrots, and onion.  When onions are translucent, add garlic.  Give it a good stir, and allow garlic to cook for a minute or two. While the meat and veggies are cooking, boil water and cook the (pasta) ravioli according to package directions.  Add sauce to meat and veggies and simmer. You can use whatever sauce you like.  I happened to see a new jarred sauce - Spicy Red Pepper (I forget the brand) and wanted to give it a try.  Drain pasta.  Serve pasta with sauce and added red pepper flakes if desired, and cheese!  I skipped the cheese since I used cheese filled ravioli.  Even though you really can't  have too much money chocolate cheese!

I liked the combination of the sweet from the chicken sausage, and the spicy from the red pepper.  I also liked that I was using those remaining veggies instead of letting them go to veggie heaven in the crisper.  Since I was the only one who ate the sauce - b/c I have kids that refuse to eat sauce on their pasta - I had leftovers.  I threw that on some naan bread, with more cheese, and baked it up....

I love naan.  And cheese.  So I can pretty much turn anything into a 'pizza'.

And check out my fine china.  Don't be hatin'. 

The giveaway for FIVE boxes of General Mills cereal ends tomorrow.  Go enter!


I'm linking up today with Everything Under the Moon, Homemaker on a Dime, Beyer Beware, Delightfully Dowling, A Southern Fairytale, Skip to my Lou, The Girl Creative, Life as Mom