Easy Ravioli Lasagna

Using filled fresh ravioli instead of lasagna noodles, this easy ravioli lasagna is flavored with hot Italian sausage, spinach and a rich tomato sauce. 

It’s the first Wednesday of the month so that means it’s time for my Foodie Extravaganza friends to share recipes for another obscure food holiday! March 21st is National Ravioli Day and the remit from our host said: You can make your own, use store-bought, or even ravioli components.

Well, you know I love to make and eat fresh ravioli but this month I just didn’t have the time so store-bought it would be. I usually have a pack or two of fresh filled pasta in my freezer because it’s such an easy meal on a busy day. This dish does take a bit longer than just throwing the ravioli in some boiling water, but I promise, it’s worth it. And as with most lasagna recipes, it’s even better as leftovers the next day. 

My other ravioli recipes you might like: 

• Lemon ricotta lobster ravioli
• Cheesy artichoke ravioli casserole
• Spinach and cheese ravioli

Easy Ravioli Lasagna

My recipe is adapted from one on the BBC Good Food website. You can substitute your favorite fresh ravioli for the ricotta and spinach ones I used. If you can’t get Italian sausage meat, just buy Italian sausage and squeeze the meat out of the casing before frying it as in the instructions. 

Ingredients

Olive oil, for frying and greasing casserole dish

1 lb or 450g hot Italian sausage meat

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

2 (14.5 oz or 411g) cans diced tomatoes (I like the Hunt’s petite dice, no salt added)

10 oz or 283g baby spinach, stems removed

20 oz or 567g spinach & ricotta ravioli (or any flavor you like)

8 oz or 225g grated mozzarella

Method

Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan. Fry the sausage meat until browned, using a wooden spoon to break it up. Add in the garlic and Italian spices. 

Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. 

Add the tomatoes and half a can of water. Give it a stir.

Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 minutes, covered. Stir occasionally. If you have more time, it will never hurt to leave it simmering for as long as you can. Just check back and add a little water if it looks like it’s getting dry. 

Meanwhile, put the spinach in a colander. Pour over boiled water from the kettle to wilt. 

Leave to cool, then squeeze out as much of the excess water as you can.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a medium-sized casserole dish by greasing the bottom and sides with a little oil.

Spoon one third of the sauce into the prepared pan. (I measured my sauce and it was just a titch over 5 cups so one third is 1 2/3 cups. 

Top with about one third of the ravioli.

Then a third of the spinach.

Finally, sprinkle one third of the cheese. Repeat the layers twice, making sure the final layer of ravioli is nestled into the sauce. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes in your preheated oven until the sides are bubbling and it is hot all the way through. Cover if the top starts to get too dark before the lasagna is done. 

Remove from the oven and rest for a few minutes before serving. Extra points if you serve it with a nice Chianti. 

Enjoy! 

Check out all the lovely ravioli recipes my Foodie Extravaganza friends are sharing today! Which one will you make on March 21st for National Ravioli Day? 

Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. 

• Easy Ravioli Lasagna from Food Lust People Love
• Garden Greens-Stuffed Ravioli from Culinary Cam
• Gluten Free Gnudi (Naked Ravioli) In Butter Garlic Sauce from Sneha’s Recipe
• Homemade Spinach and Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Seafood Ravioli from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Toasted Ravioli from Palatable Pastime

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Zucchini Noodle Lasagna

This zucchini noodle lasagna is made with zucchini “noodles” instead of pasta, upping your vegetable intake and lowering carbs. You won’t miss them!

I’ve wanted to share this recipe for the longest time but something kept getting in the way. I made it when we were attempting a keto diet and trying to eat more vegetables as well. The more veggies thing worked really well but the keto part, not so much. Pretty sure I gained weight. :D

While this dish is low carb, it’s not low calorie because of the beef, sausage and cheese. It is delicious!

For a vegetarian version, use double the amount of mushrooms in place of the beef and sausage or a meat substitute. 

Zucchini Noodle Lasagna

Unfortunately the process photos for the red sauce somehow went missing. I have no idea how or why but I hope the explanation is sufficiently clear. If you do have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will endeavor to respond in a timely manner. 

Ingredients

For the red sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb or 450g ground beef

14 oz or 387g smoked sausage

2 cans (14.1 oz or 400g) whole peeled tomatoes, with juice

4 3/4 oz or 135g tomato paste

2 tablespoons Italian seasonings  (I use Durkee Pasta Seasoning (<affiliate link) which has dehydrated onions, garlic, etc. along with the actual Italian spices.)*

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*Without that lovely shortcut, mince 1 small onion and 3 cloves garlic. Add to pan while browning beef. 

For the cheese layers:

5 1/3 oz or 150g mozzarella, grated

8.8 oz or 250g fresh ricotta 

2 large eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

For the zucchini layers:

4 medium zucchini (about 1.1 lbs or 500g)

Fine sea salt

For topping:

1/2 cup or 55g Parmesan, grated

(Plus reserved grated mozzarella – see method below)

1 teaspoon oregano

Method

Add olive oil to pan, then the ground beef. Cook until ground beef is browned and the smaller bits are a little bit crispy. (Put in onion/garlic in at this point, when the smaller bits are well browned, if using.)

While that’s happening, cut the sausage lengthwise into four strips and then chop them into small cubes. Add the sausage to the beef pan and cook further until the sausage starts to brown. 

Add the Italian seasonings, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, along with about half a can of water, using that water to rinse out the tomato cans so as not to leave any tomato behind in them. 

Pop in the bay leaves, give the whole pot a good stir and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes. 

Meanwhile, trim off the stem ends and slice your zucchini into thin strips with a vegetable peeler. 

Lay in single file on a clean kitchen towel. Lightly sprinkle the zucchini with salt and set aside. 

Put about 1/2 cup of the grated mozzarella in a small mixing bowl and stir in the Parmesan and dried oregano. Set aside till needed for topping. 

In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together the rest of the mozzarella, the ricotta, the eggs and some freshly ground black pepper. This is going to look much drier that the usual cheese layer for lasagna. Don’t worry. The cooking zucchini will ensure that this lasagna isn’t dry. 

After the red sauce has simmered for about 45 minutes, stir in the baking soda. I was taught this trick by an Italian American nonna. It’s going to bubble up as the soda reacts with the natural acids in the tomatoes. Keep stirring till about the bubbles are gone. The result is a sweeter, less acidic and according to my mentor nonna, more stomach-friendly sauce. 

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes longer, uncovered. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

To assemble the zucchini noodle lasagna, remove the bay leaves from the red sauce and spoon a thin layer into your baking dish. (9x13in or 23x33cm for thin lasagna, a smaller pan for thicker lasagna).

Roll the zucchini tightly up in the clean kitchen towel to dry them off. Unroll the towel and top the red sauce with zucchini slices.

Add another layer of red sauce. Then spoon on a layer of the cheese mixture. 

Add another layer of zucchini, followed by red sauce and then cheese mixture. Keep going till you use up all the zucchini, the red sauce and cheese. In my pan, I did three complete sets of layers. 

Finish the dish by sprinkling it with the mozzarella/Parmesan cheese topping. 

Bake in your preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until the zucchini noodle lasagna is hot through, bubbling around the edges and well browned on top. 

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes then cut in squares to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing creative lasagna recipes! Check them all out below. 

• Chicken Alfredo Lasagna from Making Miracles
• Chicken Marsala Lasagna from Palatable Pastime
• Keto Chicken Alfredo Zucchini Lasagna With Homemade Keto Alfredo Sauce from Sneha’s Recipe
• Lasagna Bianca from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mexican Chicken Lasagna from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Pesto Lasagna with Homemade Noodles from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Pierogi Lasagna from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Saucy Lasagna Rolls from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Vegetable Lasagna from Mayuri‘s Jikoni
• Zucchini Noodle Lasagna from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Slow Cooker Lasagna

 Spicy Italian sausage is my go-to meat for lasagna and meatballs. It adds such wonderful flavor! This slow cooker lasagna is easy to put together, plus you can walk away and come back to deliciousness without worrying about it burning in the oven.

Growing up, my older sister and I took turns cooking dinner when my mom went back to work. One of my favorites was the Hamburger Helper with that pasta that looks like lasagna noodles but way skinnier. When my younger sister got old enough to cook too, she often made real lasagna. It was sort of her specialty and I guess it still is.


You really can’t compare Hamburger Helper to real lasagna but I’m going to dare to compare the real stuff with one cooked in a slow cooker. I must confess that it doesn’t look as pretty as a neatly cut square of an oven-baked casserole and the crispy bits around the edges that we all fight over are missing. But all in all, with a huge plus for ease of assembly and hands-off time, it’s quite delicious, especially when made with spicy Italian sausage meat.

Ingredients
2.2 lbs or 1kg spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
4 cups or 360g grated mozzarella cheese.
2 cups or 500g ricotta
12 sheets (about 8 oz or 225g) uncooked lasagna noodles
6 cups or 1475g spaghetti sauce (your favorite)

To serve: freshly grated Parmesan and sprigs of parsley, if desired

Method
Pan fry and drain your sausage meat, breaking it into crumbles. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little while.

Put about 1 cup or 240ml of sauce in the bottom of your slow cooker. Layer in 3-4 lasagna noodles, breaking off the corners so they sit nicely in your slow cooker. Put the little broken pieces in any gaps.






Mix the ricotta cheese in with the crumbled sausage meat.




Add one half of the meat/ricotta to the top of the noodles.



Then sprinkled on one third of the shredded cheese and add another cup or so of the sauce to the top.




Repeat the process starting with another layer of noodles. Finish with noodles then sauce. You should have one third of the mozzarella left. Put it in the refrigerator for later.




Cook for six hours on low.




After about five hours.


About 1 hour before serving, add the reserved shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover and cook until melted.




To serve, try to scoop up a good cross section of the lasagna through all the layers.

Top with fresh grated Parmesan, if desired. That’s non-negotiable in our house. A little parsley adds color as well.




Enjoy!

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