SLACKER LASAGNE

[verbminx]

I cannot take credit for this, except for some observations - it comes totally from the March 2002 issue of Real Simple, where it's described as "Fake it, don't make it! Last Minute Lasagne"

Ingredients:
1 30-oz package frozen cheese ravioli - DO NOT THAW
1 26-oz jar red pasta sauce
1 10-oz box frozen spinach - thawed & squeezed "dry"
1 8-oz package shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 deg (F). Coat a 13x9" pan with cooking spray. Spoon in 1/3 of the pasta sauce so that it covers the bottom of the pan. On top of this, place a layer of 12 (still frozen) ravioli. Scatter spinach evenly across the ravioli, and sprinkle 1/2 of each kind of cheese (1/4c parmesan and 1c mozzarella) over the top. Cover with another layer of ravioli (12-16) and the remaining pasta sauce (spoon in evenly). Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly. Serves 6.

Observations: You'd be surprised how filling this is, especially if you serve a veggie with it (I chose sugar snap peas). It's going to be exactly as good as the ingredients you put in it... so if you choose a low-end pasta sauce and don't like how it comes out, don't blame me. I used 2 jars of Patsy's Pizzaiola, from the local gourmet shop (the jars are small and expensive), and it was delicious, and worth the cost, and made it into a "special meal" - but I think a decent grocery-store sauce would be just as good. I'd stay away from overly complicated sauces, though - the Barilla Mushroom & Garlic sauce that I use on pasta doesn't seem right, possibly because of all the big chunky mushrooms in it. If you go for something like that, make sure it's not too sweet and that all the veggies in it are cut up. Also, I used Parmesan/Romano/Asiago blend instead of straight parmesan cheese, because it was what I had on hand - and I think this is a better choice, tastes a little bit more sophisticated than plain parmesan. Also, I didn't have cooking spray, so I just wiped the pan with a little bit of oil first, which worked fine.

Comments

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

hmmm, that does sound good. i love lasagne but it's quite time-consuming to make the regular verion so i'll have to try this out. (yum, sugar snap peas...)

[amatrixangel.livejournal.com]

Yummo. That I'll do for the next Sunday meal for the building peeps. I wouldn't use 'cooking spray' though, it's a bit too much like mace :/

[eunice-branca.livejournal.com]

That sounds divine! I think I am going to get the ingredients for it today. I was sitting here trying to think of something for dinner when I remembered yer post. I'm going to try using fresh spinach though