Ravioli: A Quick, Hot Meal When the Load Has to Go

Ravioli has been defined as "small circular or square cases of dough with savory fillings."(1)

Two of the more popular fillings are meat and cheese, although there are other types of fillings.

There are also various types of sauces, the one shown here with a tomato and meat sauce.

Canned Ravioli

For a quick, hot meal, we occasionally ate the contents of a can of Wal-Mart's store brand variety "mini beef ravioli in tomato and meat sauce."

This large can contained 40 ounces of the prepared pasta and was a hearty entree for us for one meal.

We complimented it with a green vegetable.

Side Vegetables

When we took the photos of the meal that we're showing on this page, we chose to eat canned green beans.

To keep from mixing the tomato sauce from the "main course" with the green beans, we
- heated the beans first in a hot pot,
- drained them,
- put them in a bowl and
- topped them with butter.

To keep them from cooling off too quickly, we put a plate over the top of the bowl.

Ease of Preparation

Preparing the entree was as easy as
- opening the can,
- pouring the contents into our hot pot,
- heating it thoroughly,
- pouring it in a bowl,
- sprinkling a little mozzarella cheese on top,
- waiting for it to cool slightly, and
- eating it.

Please note that sprinkling cheese on top of raviolis does not mean that what we have in the bowl is classified as "cheese ravioli."

To make that dish, the filling inside the dough pouches has to be made of cheese.

What Ravioli Looks Like

In this photo of two back-to-back ravioli dough pouches that have been bitten into, you can see the meat filling in this preparation of this dish.

Nutrition Facts

This panel shows the nutrition facts of the contents of the can.

This is not a low-calorie, low-sodium or low-fat meal, which is why we round it out with vegetables.

So, if you're watching your weight, you'll probably want to eat less of the entree and more vegetables (preferably raw or crisply cooked).

Some folks like to round out entrees featuring a tomato-based meat sauce (lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, etc.) with a salad.

Some salad greens are more nutritious or more filling than others.

Ravioli Ingredients and MSG

Vicki feels compelled to share an item that personally affects her. In the list of ingredients -– shown at the right –- you will see that she has put a red box around "Monosodium Glutamate" (also known as "MSG").

This is the only thing that she doesn't like about this commercially canned product.

Whenever she eats anything with MSG, Vicki is sure to get a headache, so she has to watch out for it.

Other stores sell canned ravioli without MSG.

For more information on MSG, please see these resources:
Link 1; Link 2.

Other Ravioli Recipes

For other types of ravioli -- or how to prepare it from scratch -- you may want to see this list of ravioli recipes.

Ingredients We Used

• One 40-ounce can of ravioli
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• One can of green beans (about 14-15 ounces)
• Butter or margarine

Equipment We Used

• Hot pot;
• Inverter;
• Cutting board (which we use as a cooking surface);
• Can opener;
• Slotted spoon;
• Spatula;
• Bowls, plate and utensils.

Cost of This Meal (For 2 People) in 2009

Ingredient	Cost
Ravioli	$2.12
Cheese	$0.25 (estimated)
Green beans	$0.33 (on sale)
Butter	$0.05 (estimated)
Total	$2.75 ($1.375 per serving)

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Money saving tip: Prepared foods that need only to be heated can save professional drivers a lot of time when it comes to eating meals.

Some prepared foods can be bought commercially canned.

If a driver has a home support team, the food items can be prepared at home with fresh ingredients and preserved in numerous ways -- most notably refrigerated, frozen or canned -- until ready to eat.

One must weigh the cost of the time used to prepare meals from scratch with the benefit derived.

Other types of dough-based, pasta-based and ready-to-heat dishes are also available at your local grocery store, including canned spaghetti, canned macaroni and cheese, soups, stews, frozen entrees, etc.

Many of these items are less expensive than eating a similar meal in a truckstop restaurant.

We have found this meal particularly enjoyable, warm and filling when it is very cold outside and we just didn't feel like leaving the truck.

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Return from Ravioli: A Quick, Hot Meal When the Load Has to Go to our Food and Recipes page or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.

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Reference

1. https://www.freethesaurus.com/ravioli

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Recommended Trucker Accessories

• Portable Toilet
  
  
• Cold Food Storage Device
  
  
• Appliances to Cook in Your Truck
  
  
• Powering Your Appliances
  
  
• Navigation Tools
  
  
• Communication Tools

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