I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted in a while. Life has been crazy busy for me. We have had graduations and parties and birthdays. Work has been super hectic and to top it all off, I am attending a conference this week in Nashville, TN. My head is spinning.
When I was a kid, I watched Bewitched and I so wanted to be able to twitch my nose and make magic happen. I used to practice nose twitching all the time just in case I acquired that magical ability. It never happened…sigh. If I could do that now I would twitch and make the world around me stand still for a few hours (or weeks) just so that I could catch up.
Since I can’t do that I have selected a recipe to share that you (and me) can use on a super busy day. My family loves Italian food but tire of plain old pasta with sauce. Occasionally we want lasagna. Now, my older son, Cody, makes fantastic lasagna. However, it is a real time commitment because it is totally from scratch. On days when I just don’t have the time or energy for that I make ravioli lasagna. Rather than lasagna noodles you use frozen ravioli. You don’t even have to boil it! I hate waiting for water to boil. What a time sucker! Just me? Oh well. I like to use one layer of meat ravioli and one layer of cheese ravioli. The cheese ravioli is a good substitute for the ricotta layer in a from-scratch recipe. I do also use jarred sauce, but you can totally use a homemade sauce if you have the time. Perhaps you even have some in your freezer. Lucky you if that is the case! Someday I will find the time to make up a bunch of sauce and freeze it for future use. Some day. But not today. Or this week. Or this month.
For this recipe you will need frozen ravioli. One bag each of meat and cheese filled. There will be leftover raviolis unless you add more than 2 layers. You can do that, but you will also need to increase the amounts of sauce and ground beef and cheese, so plan accordingly. I only used one regular sized jar (23.25 oz.) of sauce and it worked out perfectly. If you like more sauce, then get the bigger jar and use most of it. I used bagged shredded cheese (2 cup bag) which works out perfectly fine. If you feel the need to shred your own, then shred away. Use any type of mozzarella or Italian blend that you like or that you have in the frig already. I used ground beef/pork blend. You can use plain ground beef, ground sausage or even ground turkey. All are delicious.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray your casserole dish or baking pan (9 X 13) with cooking spray. Brown the ground meat and then drain.
Spoon 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the sprayed pan and spread as well as you can to the edges.
Layer the frozen cheese ravioli on top of the sauce covering as much of the surface as possible.
Cover that layer with half of the browned meat and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Cover that with 1 cup of sauce and then a layer of meat ravioli.
Top with the remaining sauce. If you are using the regular-sized jar of sauce it will be just a little tricky to cover the entire surface. It does not have to be a thick layer. You just want all of the raviolis covered with some sauce.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese (1 cup) over the top. Bake, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and just beginning to brown.
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.
Cut into large squares and serve.
Ravioli Lasagna
This layered pasta dish is quick to assemble and contains all the delicious pasta, sauce, meat and cheese that you expect in a lasagna without all the fuss.
Ingredients
- 1 package frozen cheese ravioli
- 1 package frozen meat-filled ravioli
- 1 jar pasta sauce (at least 23 oz.)
- 1 pound ground beef, pork, sausage or turkey (your choice)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian blend of cheeses
- Grated parmesan if desired
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray your casserole dish or baking pan (9 X 13) with cooking spray.
- Step 2 Brown the ground meat and then drain.
- Step 3 Spoon 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the sprayed pan and spread as well as you can to the edges.
- Step 4 Layer the frozen cheese ravioli on top of the sauce covering as much of the surface as possible.
- Step 5 Cover that layer with half of the browned meat and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Step 6 Cover that with 1 cup of sauce and then a layer of meat ravioli.
- Step 7 Top with the remaining sauce. You want all of the raviolis covered with some sauce.
- Step 8 Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
- Step 9 Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese (1 cup) over the top.
- Step 10 Bake, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and just beginning to brown.
- Step 11 Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Step 12 Cut into large squares and serve.
