Apple Sausage Ravioli

Problem: Justin and I simply can't afford to go out to eat at expensive restaurants that often, but I still like eating fancy dishes.

Solution: Justin tries to recreate those dishes at home.

That is exactly how this dish came about. You can find many variations of this dish, Apple Sausage Ravioli, on google, but this particular one was created from Justin's memories of an experience we had about 8 years ago at a small hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in the middle of Atlanta. We decided randomly to visit one of Justin's friends, a waiter there, that night so long ago. He recommended a dish and a wine to go with that dish. I am incredibly picky, and I just knew that I would hate the dish. There was nothing in the recipe that was particularly offensive though, so I agreed to give it a taste.

Unfortunately for Justin, I knew from the very first bite that Justin was going to regret his choice in coming to this fantastic restaurant and ordering this delectable meal for years to come. We would end up penniless on the side of the road begging for money just so that we could return to have one more piece of heaven. Then! Justin, the guy with a strong cooking background, decided that perhaps he could change our future. Maybe we wouldn't end up on the side of the road collecting pennies! He decided to get into the kitchen and create heaven himself! How I adored him for this! :)

When I asked Justin to share the recipe with me, he refused. Share his creation with the world? NEVER!!! I'm pretty convincing when I want to be though. Dear readers, you should feel special. I got the recipe for you because I love you that much!

And so here it is, in plain English, despite all of the "cooking terms" Justin used to confuse us all:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a white onion, cubed
• just over 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 lb of sweet and/or spicy sausage*
• FRESH sage
• 3 granny smith apples, cored and sliced into eighths
• salt
• extra virgin olive oil
• ravioli (our preference: butternut squash ravioli or cheese ravioli)
• shredded parmesan cheese for plating

Recipe:

Cook your white onion with a pat of butter in a saucepan on medium heat just until the onion turns transparent. (He called it "sweating" the onion.)
Add in your sausage to the onion/butter mixture.
Cut a few sprigs of sage into tiny strips (chiffonade?) and add to the pan.
Remove everything from the heat once your meat is browned and set aside in a different bowl.

Using the same pan you cooked everything else in, put 1/2 cup of unsalted butter and your 3 granny smith apples into the pan, once again cooking on medium heat.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt on the apples to give them a bit of added flavor.
When the apples become soft (but not mushy), add your meat, onions, etc… back to the pan.
Take a few more sprigs of sage and add them to the pan. (Do not cut them as you did with the first ones.)
Cook until the sage wilts.
Remove from heat.

For the ravioli, you will cook as indicated on the package then toss in olive oil.

For plating, place your sausage and apple mixture on top of the ravioli and shred a bit of parmesan cheese on top to make it look pretty. :)
Serve delicious and hot.

* You can use either spicy or sweet sausage in this recipe depending on your preference. Justin likes to use a mixture of both.
** I might be a bit weird, but I like adding a splash of balsamic vinegar to my ravioli mixture before eating it. YUM! :)

Let me know if you make this recipe! I'd love to know if you try it and love it! Or if you come up with your own variation of this amazing dish! :)