Last-Minute Lasagna

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Hands-On Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes 

• 1 24- to 26-ounce jar pasta sauce
• 2 16- to 18 ounce bags frozen large cheese ravioli, unthawed
• 1 10-ouce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess water
• 1 8-ounce bag shredded mozzarella
• ½ c grated Parmesan
• 1 lb cooked ground beef, optional to add to sauce

 Heat oven to 350F. Spoon ⅓ of the pasta sauce into a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Place half of the ravioli on top of the sauce in a single layer. Sprinkle with the spinach and half of the mozzarella. Top with half of the remaining sauce. Layer on the remaining ravioli (you may not need all of them). Top with rest of the sauce and mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbling, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Be sure to drain the spinach as best as possible. Too much water can ruin the recipe. To drain, I recommend squeezing it in your hands over a strainer or colander in the sink.

The original recipe, from Real Simple’s Meals Made Easy, did not call for ground beef. Without it, you’ve got a nice and easy vegetarian recipe. But if you have meat lovers to cook for, like I do, add cooked ground beef to the sauce! When I buy ground beef I usually get a 3 lb package and divy it up into 1 lb sections. Some of which I use to make hamburg patties or when I know I’ll be making a recipe that calls for cooked ground beef, I’ll cook a portion up right away and freeze it. Then all I have to do for, say this recipe, is toss the frozen cooked beef in a sauce pan, pour the sauce on top and warm it up while the oven’s preheating and I’m getting the rest of the ingredients together.

My go-to sides for Last-Minute Lasagna, or any pasta/Italian dish really, are garlic bread (the frozen kind ; ) ) and Fresh Express Lite Caesar Salad Kit. Toss the garlic bread in with the lasagna when you remove the foil. Once that’s in, prep the salad and you’re set!