Spicy Sausage, Spinach Cheese Ravioli Lasagna

The Easiest Lasagna Ever Made!

This recipe has been adapted from one I saw in a magazine (can't remember which one). I was so intrigued by the concept that makes this lasagna. Using a minimum of ingredients and using them very smartly, this lasagna is so tasty and can be embellished to make it your own.

The most clever thing about this recipe is that frozen cheese ravioli is used in place of lasagna noodles and ricotta cheese mixture.I was a little skeptical at first, I don't like the taste of  "raw" noodles. But honestly, I could not taste even a hint of raw flavor. Go ahead, use the ravioli frozen.  Oh happy day! So much less work, absolutely all the taste.

Recipe:
1-1 1/2 lb italian turkey sausage, casing removed
1 TBS olive oil
1 box frozen spinach
1/2 cup pesto
1 jar very good pasta sauce
1 bag good mozzarella cheese
2 bags frozen cheese ravioli, again use the good kind.

In a large skillet  heat oil over medium heat. With casing removed, put turkey in pan and break up. Cook through. Set aside.

Thaw spinach in microwave. Put spinach in a smooth napped  kitchen towel and squeeze out all the liquid. Put in a small bowl. Add pesto, and stir to incorporate. Set aside.

Using a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with tall sides, layer the ingredients. Put 1/3 jar of tomato sauce in the bottom of baking dish and add 1/2 turkey. Place a layer of  frozen ravioli on top of turkey to cover. Make little rows.
Put 1/2  the spinach mixture on top of the ravioli. Sprinkle 1/3 bag of cheese. Place a layer of ravioli over the cheese and 1/3 pasta sauce over the ravioli.  Put the remainder of the sausage on top of the pasta sauce. Place another layer of ravioli. Put the remaining spinach mixture on top of the ravioli and 1/3 bag of cheese.
Put last row of ravioli on top. Cover with remaining pasta sauce and cheese.

Bake  for 1 hour. Check this. It should be steaming hot and cheese melted. I made mine in a 9 x 9 baking dish and the time might be a little diffferent.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut and serve.

Options:
There are so many interesting ways you could make this. Try all pesto, vodka sauce or alfredo sauce. How about adding pepperoni, or olives, fresh mozzarella, small meatballs etc. Diced chicken would make it very hardy. I like sliced hard boiled eggs in my lasagna. Adding broccoli instead of spinach would be another option. Recipes like this are very exciting to me. They are more a culinary formula that I can experiment with depending on my mood and what I have on hand.

This is really a wonderfully delicious and very easy lasagna. You can keep all the ingredients on hand and make it up in no time!

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