Ravioli Soup: When Plain Ravioli Just isn't Good Enough
I got this recipe from Taste of Home website just by Googling Ravioli Soup. I forget where I first got the idea, some where on the net to be sure. I love all things pasta, bread, grains...really anything and everything bad for you right? But I'm on this...I'm not going to kill myself before I'm 30 kick. So I know I just can't keep eating all the bad crap. I need to make healthier choices...even if it's one healthy choice per meal. Life changes one choice at a time right?
Ok way too deep. Anyway, back to the shallow soup. Yes, I'm quite clever. The soup is not necessarily what you would want if you want chicken noodle soup. You can make it more "soupy" so to speak but I loved it lumpy and filling. If you click on the link below the picture it takes you straight to the recipe that I used. However, I changed it up in several ways so my opinion of this does not necessarily have any reflect on their recipe one way or another.
Let's start with the ingredient list. Which I took fabulous pictures of, of course.
Told you it was pretty! So. As you can see ... I need to buy more spices! No, but in all seriousness there were several ingredients I did not have. Such as the second 14 oz can of tomatoes, onion salt, nor did I have actual onions. I love to use actual ingredients so being out of onions plus the salt...blew. In hindsight, I liked the sweeter version that I made.
Ingredients I added. I added colorful ripe bell peppers which gave the soup a sweeter taste and more of a texture that both me and my little one really enjoyed. I have two colors of peppers because I can actually taste the difference. My favorite are the orange and red so I used though. Two were more than enough. I used two huge cloves of fresh garlic. You can NEVER have too much garlic. ... No really...you can't. It's impossible.
I really wanted to add Chicken stock. It turns out that it has been in my fridge for a REALLY really really long time. I became aware of this due to the acidic terrible smell that wafted from the top when I opened it. Tip - Don't use out of date chicken stock. I'm lucky it smelled so terrible before I put it in the soup.
As you can see, there is a half empty wine bottle in the back. It is a super sweet red wine that honestly, I can't drink on a regular basis. So I'm slowly but surely getting rid of it. One large splash at a time. Again, the soup was not sweet but due to the wine and bell peppers it did have a lovely sweeter taste and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
When the recipe called for the tomatoes...I was not concerned with brand. Sometimes you need a better brand. Like with toilet paper. But tomatoes...no. As you can see, I bought a frozen brand of ravioli due to it's cheaper cost. I chose to get tiny rounds instead of big raviolis and it made the soup strategically easier to eat. I chose to do cheese because mushroom wasn't available. Seriously. I LOVE mushroom ravioli. Otherwise there were just meat choices which I thought was counter-intiutive as I was already adding a meat.
Right the meat. How did I make this healthy do you ask? First, the cheese ravioli because it doesn't have meat is healthier. I also used fresh vegetables as I mentioned before but the healthiest choice that, in my opinion, didn't change the taste of the dish was the meat. Instead of ground beef, I used ground turkey. I used Jeannie O which is usually all natural. It says on the package. See. You looked. It's ok. I did too. Now... some people could be like me with bell peppers and be able to taste the difference between the beef and turkey but I think because of the strong taste of the garlic and tomatoes you won't notice the difference.
Just changing beef to turkey makes a huge difference in how healthy the dish has become. It has less grease and less fat. Less sodium, etc. HOWEVER...there is a less difference if you are buying lean beef which you could be. It's usually more expensive especially when it's organic or all natural but some people prefer to do it that way.
Ok to begin I started cooking the ravioli. Now the biggest bestest tip I could give you. How do you know when it's done???
As you can see, the rounds are super tiny! Anyway, you know ravioli is done when it floats to the top. Do I know this for sure...well no. I forget where I learned it but it has been a true and tested way to tell when it's done. Never failed for me.
Then I took it out and strained it. Using the same pot to cook the ground turkey. As that cooked I put together all the dry ingredients. I did not have fresh parsley so I used dry.
Yep, that's a plastic fishy bowl. Uh huh. No judgement. No, in reality it's always better to use glass or metal while cooking but the ingredients were dry so it wasn't a super big deal.
What beautiful Veggies!
As you can see, there isn't a whole lot of veggies. But with using less tomatoes, I made the entire dish a bit smaller and it all worked.
After you cook the turkey which takes about ten minutes, you add all the other crap. Yep...well except the pasta. You save that for last.
This is how it should look (basically) after you've added everything but the ravioli. You let it boil, then turn it down to simmer. Put the lid on and relax for 30 minutes. This really lets all the spices and garlic permeate the entire dish. I would even say the time to simmer is vital to how it will taste. Again, just personal preference. Not like it's life or death or anything. *wink*
Thirty minutes later...after you've watched that new episode of Enlisted, because why not? You come back and add your ravioli. Stir, and I would let sit for another five minutes to heat. Then I did the most amazing part. I added a crap ton of Parmesan cheese throughout and I added it to the top of the final bowl. My darling little me decided against cheese on the top which I thought was a poor decision but I let her decide.
This is my final product in my very lovely beautiful amazing smooth shiny bowl. You can tell I like my dishware huh?
DE-FREAKING-LISH! I loved it. I have a terribly sore throat and it was smooth and warm. The vegetables added excellent flavors and the spices were a great choice. I loved the taste of the turkey and felt like I was making a healthy choice.
NOW the most important part. The ratings.
Directions - 5 out of 5. The directions were easy, concise, and to the point.
Taste- 5 out of 5 no doubt. I will be cooking this again.
Presentation - 5 out of 5. Isn't my bowl amazing! Ok ok a 3. I know the websites picture looks better. Sigh.
Versatility (I'm adding this as a rating) - I would give it a 4. You can't completely change the dish but you can add so much or take a away ingredients and it's the same dish, essentially.
Lifetime Percentage - 99% going to make this again. It was easy, I can change it up, and frankly it was delicious. For a person who is not so adept at cooking, a dish like this! Where you'd have to be kind of an idiot to screw it up - makes it perfect for me to make.
On that idiot note, if you got your feelings hurt. First - I'm 100% sure you'll get over it. Second - I left my cell phone in the cabinet behind the soup. No idea how or why. But when my husband called that's where I found it. Proceed with your damn giggles.
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