How about that inauguration last month, huh? Too political for a food blog? You’re probably right. Well then, how about a 6-ingredient recipe from the cookbook Six Ingredient Meals with Six Sisters’ Stuff? How about a recipe that is easy to put together? A recipe that is deliciously traditional, with just enough quirkiness to give it a little magic? A recipe that could potentially, with a side salad and a yummy dessert, become the Valentine’s date night dinner you share with your SO while the little ones are sleeping soundly? Caught your attention now, didn’t I? So, let’s make a yummy ravioli lasagna, and let the good times roll!
Ravioli Lasagna
Serves 6
Here’s what I used:
- Nonstick coating spray
- 1 24-oz jar marinara pasta sauce1
- ½ cup minced onion, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1tsp Italian season, optional [an ALA2 ]
- 1 25-oz package frozen ravioli
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Chopped fresh basil, for garnish
Here’s what I did:
- Start with an oven preheated to 375°F. Next, coat a 9×9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Pour the marinara sauce into a medium bowl and, if using, stir in the onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Stir well to combine the seasoning and sauce.
- Pour 1/3 of the pasta sauce (about 1 cup) in the bottom of the pan. Place half the ravioli on top of the sauce. Cover with another 1 cup of the pasta sauce, and sprinkle the sauce with half the mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat layers (½ the ravioli, 1 cup sauce, ½ the mozzarella cheese), then top the entire dish with Parmesan cheese.
- Cover loosely with foil3 (you don’t want all that cheese on the top to melt onto the foil, do you?), and bake 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and just starts to brown lightly on top, and the sauce is bubbly at the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and serve.
Helpful Hints & Hacks:
- If you really like sauce (I do!), go ahead and increase the sauce to 1½ to 2 24-ounce jars of marinara. Your taste buds will thank you!1
- From time to time I like to change things up a little from the original recipe, and I call these Anne’s Li’l Alterations, or ALA for short. This is one of those times.
- There were 42 pillows of ravioli frozen in my package, so I made two layers of 20 each, and set aside the two leftover ravioli pillows that didn’t fit. I think they eventually found their way into the doggy bowls, which was naughty of me, but they are my dogs, and so are the consequences.
- At this point you can freeze the ravioli lasagna. To bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Adjust cooking time to 40 – 50 minutes, then uncover and bake as directed above.
Ohhhh, this was good! I’m not going to tell you how much I liked it because then I might slip and tell you how much I ate! But I would never do that. My secrets are safe with me. But you won’t want to keep this Ravioli Lasagna a secret! Make this recipe soon! And while you’re checking out the cookbook Six Ingredient Meals with Six Sisters’ Stuff, give some of the other recipes in there a try. Great variety, simple techniques, and easy-to-find ingredients that your teens could pick up on the way home from school. I’m telling you, there are so many things that make this recipe easy as well as delicious, you may never go back to laborious lasagna again! Enjoy your Valentine adventure, and ciao’ for now!
Reviewed by Anne
