Baked Ravioli with Italian Sausage

This is a great week night dinner. It is hearty and delicious, and great for these cold nights we have been having lately. We love lasagna but who has the time on a week night to put one together. Using cheese ravioli baked in spaghetti sauce gives you a lot of the same tastes of lasagna with little work.

The brand we love best is Buitoni found in the refrigerated section of the store. They taste much better than the frozen or shelf stable ones. For the lasagna taste, I use the four cheese ravioli which is filled with Parmesan, Romano, ricotta and mozzarella.

I used the recipe from Great Food Fast.

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or oregano
* 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
* 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
* 2 pounds store-bought ravioli
* 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
3. Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.



You can also use your favorite pasta sauce. This night, I used some sauce I had in the freezer so it really did make for a quick and easy meal. Also for my carnivore husband, I threw Italian sausages on the grill while the ravioli baked.