Ravioli Lasagna

Lasagna used to be a weekend only meal for my family but it has become a weeknight favorite with this recipe. My ravioli lasagna is a variation of Rachael Ray's recipe. Her recipe is delicious but very involved. I wanted something easier that I could prep and bake in less than an hour. This is far from gourmet but delicious nonetheless. Pair it with a green salad and some crusty bread drizzled with avocado oil and you've got yourself one heck of a meal.

Ravioli Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen ravioli (about 25 ounces)
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
8 ounces shredded mozzarella (about 2 1/2 cups)
1-16 ounce container of ricotta or small curd cottage cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
handful spinach, chopped
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Mix the ricotta (or cottage cheese), egg, Romano, black pepper and spinach in a medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup of sauce on bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish (my glass Pyrex dish works perfect). Layer half of the ravioli on top of the sauce. Top the ravioli with half the cheese mixture, sprinkle with 1/2 the shredded cheese. Repeat. Sprinkle garlic powder on top.
Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Our favorite ravioli to use is a portabella mushroom with a tomato basil sauce. You can easily add ground beef or turkey to this dish for the meat lovers out there. A half pound of ground turkey and a half pound of Italian sausage tastes awesome with the ravioli.