Ravioli Bake

Ravioli is one of my favorite of dishes at Olive Garden, but we don’t get there very often because we are usually in too much of a hurry and too hungry to wait an hour to eat.  So I make it at home.  Frozen ravioli is a little on the less than cheap side, but I buy it at Costco in a big bag and it makes it a little more affordable.  Feel free to use a generic spaghetti sauce and just plain old mozzarella to help cut down on the cost of this meal.  However, this 9x13 pan will feed us for two meals, so there’s that.  Did I mention that it take 5 minutes to put together?  Love that.  Throw together a salad and French bread on the side and dinner is d-o-n-e.  It has to cook for 45 minutes and then let it stand for 10, so don’t forget to plan accordingly. 

Ravioli Bake

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes plus 10 minutes standing time
Family Friendliness:  My kids really like this, but I fed it to other kids once and they looked at me like I was feeding them poison.  So I guess it depends on the kids.
 
Ingredients
1 (26 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained (I use a pint of home canned tomatoes, undrained)
½ c. water (I omit this since my canned tomatoes have my liquid in them.)
1 (2 lbs.) pkg. frozen cheese ravioli  (I've never been able to find a 2 lb. pkg of ravioli so I just buy a 3 lb. bag at Wal-Mart or a really big bag at Costco)
1 pkg. (7 oz.) Italian three cheese blend
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
Directions: Heat oven to 400˚. Mix spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and water; spoon 1 cup onto bottom of 9x13 pan.  Layer half the ravioli and 1 cup shredded cheese over sauce mixture.  Top with remaining ravioli and sauce mixture.   Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese; cover.  Bake 30 minutes; uncover.  Bake 15 minutes more or until ravioli is tender and heated through and the cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
(This recipe was found in a Kraft's Food magazine)