My kids love ravioli. Like, LOVE it. When I make one package - it's usually not really enough for our family. They just eat and eat until it's all gone. I found this easy Ravioli Bake and thought it was perfect! It used two bags of ravioli, sauce, ground beef, cheese, and basil. This for sure will be a winner.
On Sunday - the day before we'd eat it - I was making the casserole and both kids found me. Ooooh, ravioli!! Yes, this would be a good one! A 9 x 13 that we could really do justice to.
On serving day, on our way home in the car I asked the kids if they were excited about ravioli. (By the way... that's a really hard word to spell and I've typed it WAY too many times and in so very many different ways. Thank goodness for spellcheck.) Anyway - were they excited? Yes!! Oh yay! We sat for a very early dinner because Andy had a conference call for work and they each ate maybe three ravioli. Huh? Three? That's all you've got in you? Three? Where are my kids who eat 15 at a time? Where are my good eater? Clearly not in my house on a Monday evening having dinner. One thing about our kids is they never ask for snacks before bed... so even if they were hungry - no one said a thing.
Andy and I thought this recipe was a winner. You can use whatever kind of ravioli you like, sauce, cheese, even the fresh herbs you serve it with. I got a giant loaf of fresh soft French bread to dip into the sauce - so very good. This one will be great for leftovers, and oh... these kids will eat it over and over again for leftovers. Goobers. Maybe I should have made half of the recipe - totally doable... maybe if I do that - they will clean the pan.
This week Nicholas was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. Other kids in his class said doctor, teacher, police officer.... my kid? Reindeer. Maybe reindeer don't like ravioli... perhaps I should do some research.
Easy Ravioli Bake
Ingredients
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 jars (24 oz) pasta sauce
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bags (18 oz) frozen cheese ravioli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13" x 9" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
In a large skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until brown; drain. Stir in both jars of pasta sauce and pepper.
In prepared baking dish, spread 1 cup sauce mixture in baking dish. With frozen ravioli and cheese ready, place 1 layer of frozen ravioli evenly over sauce in baking dish. Top with one-third of the remaining sauce and one-third of the cheese. Repeat for a total of 3 layers.
Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and remove the foil; place in oven again and cook for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and garnish with chopped fresh basil leaves.
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