Thursday, October 23, 2008

A definite keeper
--Ravioli Lasagna



Ravioli Lasagna
The Red Hat Society Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 pound ground beef, divided
1 (28-ounce jar) spaghetti sauce, divided I used a 26.5 ounce jar
1 (25-ounce) bag sausage or cheese ravioli, thawed and divided I used 2 13-ounce bags of mini cheese ravioli, frozen
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese I used a little bit more and I used 2% mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown ground beef over medium heat. In a 2 1/2 quart greased dish, layer 1/3 the spaghetti sauce, 1/2 the ravioli, 1/2 the ground beef and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat, topping with the rest of the spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Cover and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Serves 6-8.
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On my birthday post, a commenter, Jennifer, left me a recipe for Beefy Baked Ravioli. It sounded so good but I was leery about putting the ravioli in frozen. Then I remembered seeing a recipe that used ravioli in this Red Hat Ladies Cookbook so I decided to see if that was something I could make with ravioli instead. When I looked, it was basically the same recipe (slightly simpler) but it used thawed ravioli which I was a bit more comfortable with (which makes no sense really) so I decided to make that one. However, I ended up using the ravioli frozen after all and it turned out great.

Did you follow all of that???

This was so much simpler than making a 'real' lasagna yet the same flavors were there. Everything I needed was on sale too. The ravioli were $1/bag, the sauce was $1/jar, the cheese was $2.50 and the meat was $1.99/pound. Not the least expensive meal but not bad for the amount it makes and especially for the simplicity. When you consider that my grocery store sometimes sells prepared unbaked lasagnas for almost $20, this was a steal.

I will definitely make this again, even though it wasn't my son's thing. He doesn't like any other kind of lasagna either but it's his loss. My husband and I scarfed it down.

Thanks, Jennifer! I can see why you felt the urge to pass this recipe along.

Question of the Day: Do you know any Red Hat Ladies or are you a Red Hat Lady? I only know of a few Red Hat Ladies online.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, I don't know any Red Hat Ladies--I tried to get my mom interested but she wasn't. Thank you so much for this recipe. My oldest daughter will love it--as she does all things Italian. I am with your son--I don't like lasagna or really any Italian food--even pizza. I know--I'm strange!! I would eat the jambalaya you made recently though but then I am Cajun from Louisiana!! Sheila

Randi said...

My friend makes this recipe!! We sometimes have the red hat ladies in our town, they stroll up and down the main street shopping. When I was working for my ex catering boss, she served the red hat ladies lunch. I have a cool picture of them all milling around the dining room.

Anonymous said...

My friend's mom is a red hat lady down in San Diego.

cary's girl said...

I don't know any personally, but a big group used to come out for Sunday Matinees at the outdoor theatre I used to work at. They were always lots of fun.

I saw this recipe when I was reading through the comments on your birthday post and tried it immediately. My husband and I both loved it.

Jennifer said...

Awww...thanks so much. I'm glad you found something that was similar.

Thanks for all the recipes you put up. My husband thanks you, too.

Anonymous said...

This looks amazing - my eyes boggled when I saw this. The Sunday night recipe I've been waiting for all week; my friends will really get a kick out of it. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

This looks so good, and simple! I can do this! So excited to try it.

My mom ran into a group of Red Hat ladies while we were at dinner. They were having some sort of area meeting. She asked about joining and one lady had her fill out an application, took her money and promised to call. She never did. My mom called the number she was given several times and they never called her back. So she gave up on them!

Paulineh said...

This looks a delicious recipe. I love Italian cooking and have to add this to my recipes to make next weekend. Served with a salad what a great meal.

Lady Dimples said...

Red Hat Society...a lot of fun...for ladies of a certain age. I was a member after I retired..such fun! A coupla times a mosatigurnth we would get together for an activity and socialization..wearing red hats and purple clothing...bus trips, teas, plays...just about anything...google Red Hat Society for a group in your area...I am 72 y.o.
Love your blog and have bookmarked several recipes. Thanks for sharing!!!