Beef and Ravioli Bake

This is a simple dish that really takes a short amount of effort for a great meal that lasts awhile. You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to how many people you either wish to serve. This dish also freezes fantastically. This bake is great for sending off for lunches or just pulling out and reheating at a moment’s notice.

Ingredients -

1 Package Refrigerated Cheese Ravioli (9 ounce)
1 Pound Lean Ground Beef
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce (14 ounce)
1 Package Frozen Spinach (10 ounce, thawed)
Mozzarella (4 ounces, shredded)
1 White Onion (finely chopped)
2 Roma Tomatoes (coarsely chopped)

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook the ravioli to desired doneness as directed on package.

3. Drain in a colander.

4. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the chopped onion.

5. Drain the excess liquid.

6. Stir in spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and the spinach.

7. Spoon and spread half of beef mixture into ungreased 8-inch square (2 quart) baking dish.

8. Arrange the ravioli over the beef layer.

9. Spoon and spread the remaining beef mixture over the ravioli.

10. Cover with foil.

11. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

12. Uncover baking dish and sprinkle with the mozzarella.

13. Bake another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

14. Serve immediately.

Cooking Tip

Ravioli Substitution

If you don’t care for beef in this recipe it is fantastic and much healthier with lean ground turkey! It is also great with ground baked tofu (not the regular tofu that they sell in the common grocery store.) Have fun with it and experiment. Why not just fill with your favorite mixture of hearty veggies. Create your own recipes and you decided which one you and your family like the best.

Cooking Tip

Pasta Cooking Tips

When you cook pasta it’s always best to add salt. I prefer Sea Salt. Use at least 1 tablespoon per one pound of pasta. This brings out the flavor in the pasta. Remember it’s always important to start out with cold water and to not add the salt or the pasta until the water is at a rolling boil. Adding salt to water that hasn’t started boiling will pit the pots (make little holes in them ruining the Teflon) and adding pasta to water that isn’t boiling creates pasta that tends to be mushy and we definitely want al dente pasta for best taste.