There is still time to try out the Turkey Cranberry Ravioli. I purchased some last year but somehow the film was pierced and it dried out before I could eat it. Not this year!
Advertised as “Thanksgiving in a Bite”, it’s filled with turkey, stuffing, cheese, and cranberries. I love making things with Thanksgiving leftovers from basics like soup to Thai inspired noodle salads to cranberry sauce pulled pork (recipes here) so I really couldn’t resist this which is basically leftovers in ravioli form.
The serving suggestion is herbed pan gravy but that seemed a little extreme. Often when I made packaged ravioli, I saute some vegetables and/or mushrooms and use that instead of a sauce to make it more a complete meal. I’m not really interested in making a homemade sauce (or gravy!) for a quick meal like this. I had a bag of Brussels sprouts and thought they’d be a good choice since they are a classic Thanksgiving side. I simply sauteed them with some onion, salt, and pepper.
Now the important part! How did it taste?? I actually really liked it. I’m still not sure what kind of cheese was in there but I think it was something very mild and just there to bind everything else together. I think that’s fine, a more aggressive cheese would have been out of place. Each individual ravioli had some cranberry, some turkey and some stuffing but they weren’t really all mixed together which I also think was good. The ravioli were rather large so I don’t think anyone would eat them in one bite. Keeping the elements a little distinct was good, you could really taste the cranberry, stuffing, and turkey separately vs it being one big weird mush. The stuffing was pretty flavorful and the cranberries were nicely tart. The turkey was a little bland but then, it always is.
Would I buy this again? Sure! It was tasty, quick and a novelty. Will I miss it when it leaves the store for a year or feel the need to stock up? No. It’s good and made a great meal on a night where I didn’t need leftovers and didn’t have a lot of energy but it’s not a new all-time favorite (I really recommend their roasted eggplant and the mushroom-truffle ravioli). I will probably get it next year, it was fun and festive. If you see it and are able to accept a weird American take on Italian food, it’s totally worth the $2.99. I also thought the Brussel Sprouts were good with it and made it more of a full meal. If I had mushrooms, I would have added that too.
Attention Aldi Shoppers 