I hope you all had a relaxing, fun-filled, and yummy food-filled Memorial Day weekend. Our college kids were home so I took a bit of a break from the blog, did a ton of cooking, and spent time with family. Since there have been crickets chirping around here for the past several days I’m popping in to share this incredibly easy, super comforting, pasta dish I threw together as Boy #4 headed back into town for his 3 day break from his studies at U.C. Santa Barbara. The boy loves his pasta which works well for me because it’s something I can make ahead and have on hand for him to reheat when he arrives home.
I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the devastation at U.C. Santa Barbara that took place Friday. I do want to share more about that with you but will do it in a separate post.
Comfort food was definitely in order around here this weekend.
This dish is exceptionally easy since it starts with a bag of frozen cheese ravioli. The ravioli is layered in a dish with marinara sauce, Italian sausage, and cheese and baked in the oven until it becomes a wonderful casserole of pasta goodness. The cool part is that the ravioli goes in the dish frozen. There is no need to thaw or cook it first. Easy, peasey.
I’m loving this Napa Valley Bistro sauce but any jarred marinara that you have on hand is going to work just fine and dandy here.
It’s just a matter of layering. First a little sauce, then a layer of the frozen ravioli. Some of them will be stuck together but it’s okay. Just lay them in a single layer over the sauce and they’ll work it all out as they cook.
I cooked up two links of mild Italian sausage. It is excellent with either the pork or turkey variety. Sprinkle half of that cooked, crumbled sausage over the frozen ravioli.
Then some more of the marinara and some shredded, fresh mozzarella.
Repeat the layers one more time, ending with the remaining mozarella and a little shredded or shaved Parmesan and it’s ready to pop in the oven.
The guys were reheating bowls of this ravioli all through the weekend. So convenient and so tasty!
Baked Ravioli
Ingredients
- 1 24 to 26 ounce bag frozen cheese ravioli (do not thaw)
- 2 links, approximately 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage (pork or turkey)
- 1 26 ounce jar marinara sauce
- 1 8 ounce package fresh mozzarella, shredded
- 1/4 cup shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped basil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Spread 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in single layer over sauce. Top with half the cooked Italian sausage, half of the remaining pasta sauce and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once, ending with remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in center. Remove from oven, garnish with chopped basil and serve.
- Adapted from Betty Crocker
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Recipes like these always make me want to cook! (Which means a lot, coming from me!) If you ever publish a cookbook, I suggest doing a college cooking/baking one! I would have made your recipes nonstop!
I like the way you think! Send all cookbook publishers my way 🙂 All joking aside, that really is the purpose and focus of my blog. To try to get young people to feel comfortable in the kitchen and get cooking. Thanks, Lynna.
Oh, boy, this is like lasagna made with RAVIOLI! Anything better than that?
Can’t wait to try it.
You had me at the bag and the Jar! Yay!! I am making your greek chicken with taziki tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes. (-:
We have a lot in common, my friend 🙂 I hope you love the Greek Chicken! I’m so craving that right now.