I made a fun dish this week – Ravioli Lasagna. It turned out well, but how could it not? If you put ground sirloin, pasta sauce, onions, garlic, Italian cheeses and seasonings and ricotta cheese in a casserole dish and then add cheese filled ravioli?
Heck yes, it was good.
The nice thing about this recipe is you don’t have to fool with the lasagna noodles. I know they make oven-ready lasagna pasta now, but I’m not a fan, preferring the cook-first pasta. The cheese filled raviolis are ready to rock and roll and they give a new dimension to the taste of traditional lasagna.
Here’s (roughly) how I made my dish.
I start with 2 pounds of ground sirloin. It costs a bit more than ground chuck, but it has great flavor and far less fat. I also prefer ground beef rather than Italian sausage in my lasagna, but to each his own.
Brown the sirloin with a few chopped onions and a clove or two of minced garlic and pour off the grease (there won’t be much.) Add a large jar (45-oz.) of Prego (or your favorite pasta sauce) to the ground sirloin, and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and bring to a slow boil.
Begin by putting a layer of the sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 casserole. Next add a layer of Ravioli. I used a 25-oz. bag of frozen cheese ravioli and put half the bag on the first layer. Next, spread a 16-oz carton of ricotta over the ravioli, and add about half the remaining pasta sauce, Add the rest of the ravioli on top, then the remainder of the sauce. On top, spread a 16 oz bag of shredded Italian cheese – this contains mozzarella, parmesan and other Italian blends. It’s good stuff. Cover with foil and cook in a 350 oven for 30 minutes, remove foil and cook another ten minutes. It’s a nice change of pace and a delicious way to eat Italian.
1 25-oz. bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 lbs. ground sirloin
½ C chopped onions
2 cloves minced garlic
1 t Italian seasoning
1 45 oz. jar Prego traditional pasta sauce
S & P (of course)
1 16-oz. carton of Ricotta cheese
1 16 oz. bad shredded Italian Cheese
