Weekend Cooking: Ravioli Lasagna

Although I'm generally a cook-from-scratch kind of woman, I can't deny the convenience of some types of prepared foods. I almost always have cans of beans, jarred pasta sauce, and boxed chicken broth in the house. Sometimes I just want a no-fuss, quick meal after a long day at work.

Thanks to the March 2006 issues of Food & Wine magazine, I've found a way to put together a whole slew of store-bought ingredients for a delicious lasagna wannabe. Over the years, I've tweaked the original recipe for Vegetable-and-Ravioli Lasagna to suit our tastes, but Food & Wine's version is is also good.

I was reminded of this recipe because I'm about to head out for my annual fall lace workshop, and one of my contributions is to provide an Italian-inspired meal for Saturday's dinner. This is what I'm making this year.

Note that as you're reading this post, I'll already be out of town, so don't be surprised if I'm late to visit your blogs. I'll get there as soon as I can. Also the photo of the plated lasagna is from the Food & Wine site. Finally, despite the way it looks, my photo of the ingredients is not a Wegman's advertisement! I'm a happy customer, not a paid promoter of their products.

The biggest change I made to the recipe was to omit the roasted/grilled vegetables. I usually use my own homemade pasta sauce, which includes vegetables, so I don't add more. But even when I use store-bought sauce, I leave the veggies out; the spinach ravioli seems to be enough.

I have made this ravioli lasagna without boiling the pasta before baking it. The recipe works just fine that way, if you add about half again as much sauce.

Variations: I usually use half mild and half hot Italian sausage. Sometimes I use one package cheese ravioli, one spinach, and one mushroom. The recipe can be cut in half and baked in an 8-by-8-inch pan.

Here's my version of the recipe; click the link for the original.

Ravioli Lasagna
Adapted from Food & Wine
Serves 8

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 mild Italian pork sausages (6 ounces), casing removed
• 2 hot Italian pork sausages (6 ounces), casing removed
• 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce, or vegetable pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 (14-ounce) packages fresh cheese ravioli
• 1 (14-ounce) package fresh spinach-and-cheese ravioli
• 12 ounces (3 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (3-quart baking dish).

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and the water and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add all the ravioli to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain the ravioli and return them to the pot. Add the sausage marinara mixture and toss gently to coat the ravioli.

Spoon one-third of the ravioli and sauce into the baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella and 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Repeat two more times (to make three layers in total).

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling. Remove the foil and bake 25 minutes until browned and bubbling. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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