If your family likes Italian meals but you’re on a budget and only visit your favorite Italian hideaway on special occasions, I’ve found a good alternative you can make at home. Now that most grocery stores offer packages of stuffed shells, manicotti and ravioli in the frozen-food section, with a little doctoring up here and there, you can have a very tasty Italian dinner at a fraction of the cost of dining out.
One of my favorites is Baked Italian Ravioli. I buy the 26-ounce bag of frozen ravioli but only use a little more than half of it in this dish. That leaves some for either Ravioli Soup or Toasted Ravioli, which I usually make when serving this baked ravioli dish.
Toasted Ravioli is one of our grandchildren’s favorites and it’s so easy to make. Just thaw out the frozen ravioli and dip each one in a shallow bowl filled with a mixture of a beaten egg and a little water, plus some salt and pepper. Then dredge each one in Italian bread crumbs that have been salted and peppered and deep fry about six at a time in hot oil. It only takes a few minutes on each side and they will puff up a little. Drain on paper towels and dust with Parmesan cheese. You also might want a side dish of marinara sauce for dipping, but they’re great plain, too. And, they taste so good with pasta dishes. Add a salad and a pan of dinner rolls and you can have a great Italian dinner right at home!
BAKED ITALIAN RAVIOLI
1 pound ground beef
1 (24-ounce) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (or 14 ounces of fresh, chopped tomatoes, drained)
1 large package of frozen ravioli (cheese or sausage), thawed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped
8 ounces (2 cups) mozzarella cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 450. Crumble beef into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Drain grease, and stir in spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, sugar, parsley, oregano, garlic salt and fresh chives. Simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.
Spread one-third of sauce mixture over bottom of an 11-by-7-inch baking dish. (A 9-by-9-inch pan will work also.) Arrange half of ravioli over sauce. Sprinkle half of mozzarella cheese over ravioli. Make another layer, ending with remaining third of the sauce mixture on top.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of all. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.
You can sprinkle a little extra Parmesan on top of each serving, if desired.
Note: if you don’t have fresh herbs, then you may use half the amount of dried herbs.
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