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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Quick & Easy Ravioli Florentine Lasagna


Though I've been researching my roots on Ancestry.com I haven't found any Italian ancestors.  They must be there though because my favorite food in the entire world is Italian!  I was craving it yesterday so I made this super easy lasagna using mostly pantry staples.  You don't have to cook the ravioli.. just get the refrigerated (not frozen) package and your "lasagna noodles" are done!  

Quick and easy to assemble in about 10 minutes!  Ken declared it worthy of company!  Serve with crusty Italian bread and a tossed green salad and you have Sunday Supper!

24 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used DeLallo Tomato & Basil)
1 can petite diced tomatoes with juice
1 pound extra lean ground beef*
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large bag ravioli (I used refrigerated Buitoni 4 cheese ravioli)
10 oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained well**
8 oz mozzarella, shredded (I was liberal...may have used a bit more)
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Caramelize the onions in a small amount of olive oil.  Add the ground beef and brown it completely until it sizzles.  Be sure to break it up into tiny crumbles (using a potato masher to do this makes it easy).  Add the pasta sauce and diced tomatoes.  Season with fresh ground pepper and let simmer about 15 minutes.

Spray a baking dish with “Pam”.  Spread a layer of the sauce mixture and top this with a layer of ravioli. Drop half of the spinach over the ravioli and then a layer of mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers… sauce, ravioli, spinach, cheese and end with a layer of sauce on top.  Sprinkle top with cheese.

Bake, covered, at 350 for 30-45 minutes until bubbly and the cheese has melted.

*If you prefer a vegetarian option, omit the beef.  This is also excellent made with ground Italian sausage instead of ground beef or half sausage/half beef.  If you want it to be more cheesy, add some freshly grated Parmesan.
** You can also use fresh spinach.  If using frozen, be sure it is well drained… thaw and squeeze out the water. 

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