I love making lasagna in all kinds of different ways but I really appreciate the little twist this recipe offers. It’s also so easy to throw together.
It does sort of feel like cheating when making this Ravioli Lasagna. Using store-bought fresh ravioli and making a six-ingredient marinara with spinach filling that’s just stirred together works great for weeknights around here.
Let me also mention it’s delicious. Just take the fresh ravioli right from the package cooking it to perfection with sauce and spinach . It’s so easy.
This recipe can also be converted to meatless by substituting sautéed mushrooms for the pepperoni. And to make it even easier, commercial pasta sauce, alfredo or even pesto may be used in place of the marinara.
Now there are just no excuses to not try this out.
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; sauté one minute more. Add tomatoes, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring often.
Puree in a food processor or blender with basil and season to your liking with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl combine spinach, mozzarella, cottage cheese, oregano leaves, egg and nutmeg.
Coat six 10-oz. ramekins with nonstick spray. If you don’t have this size ramekin, use a 9″ square baking pan instead. Spread 2 Tablespoons tomato sauce on the bottom of each ramekin. Arrange 5 ravioli on the sauce, overlapping slightly. Top with 2 moreTablespoons of the sauce and 7 slices of pepperoni. Spoon 1/2 cup spinach mixture over the pepperoni, then top with 5 more ravioli.
Finally, spread with an additional 2 Tablespoons sauce.
Coat one side of six small sheets of foil with cooking spray. Tightly wrap each ramekin in foil, coated side down. Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil, and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Let stand, wrapped, 15 minutes to cool slightly and set up. Remove foil.
Unmold ramekins by running a pairing knife around each, then inverting onto serving plates. Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.
I just had to bring my camera to the dinner table. What else is new.
Ravioli Lasagna
Adapted from Cuisine at Home
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
6 cups (2 lb.) Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 egg
Pinch of nutmeg
1 package (20 oz.) fresh four cheese ravioli
1 package (3.5 oz.) sliced pepperoni
6 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; sauté one minute more. Add tomatoes, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring often.
Puree in a food processor or blender with basil and season to your liking with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl combine spinach, mozzarella, cottage cheese, oregano leaves, egg and nutmeg.
Coat six 10-oz. ramekins with nonstick spray. If you don’t have this size ramekin, use a 9″ square baking pan instead. Spread 2 Tablespoons tomato sauce on the bottom of each ramekin. Arrange 5 ravioli on the sauce, overlapping slightly. Top with 2 moreTablespoons of the sauce and 7 slices of pepperoni. Spoon 1/2 cup spinach mixture over the pepperoni, then top with 5 more ravioli. Finally, spread with an additional 2 Tablespoons sauce.
Coat one side of six small sheets of foil with cooking spray. Tightly wrap each ramekin in foil, coated side down. Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil, and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Let stand, wrapped, 15 minutes to cool slightly and set up. Remove foil.
Unmold ramekins by running a pairing knife around each, then inverting onto serving plates. Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.
One Year Ago Today: I Couldn’t Resist
Tiffiny Felix says
Love, love, love…you’re amazing! Thanks for sharing this 🙂
clumbsycookie says
Ok, I just had breakfast yet I’m drooling over this. What an awesome twist!
KathyB. says
Lasagne was one of the first meals our daughter learned to make by herself. Love lasagne.I have never heard of nutmeg in it, and the spinach in your recipe is appealing to me.
Harry says
It looks delicious and sounds it. However, you should not use foil with the coated side next to the food as it tends to leach very small amounts of aluminium into the food Shiny side out, always!
Kaitlyn says
Mmmm! That sounds good! Sounds kinda similar to my Pizza Pasta, recipe can be found in my blog. Along with a couple of pictures, that are not nearly as good as yours.
BethieofVA says
Bookmarked!!! I want to try this for my kids. My daughter loves cheese ravioli and spinach. My son, anything that remotely looks and tastes like a noodle.
HoneyB says
Looks yummy! You made me chuckle with your comment about bringing your camera to the dinner table. I took mine on our trip to the Adirondacks in hopes of having an awesome meal (which we didn’t) and when I took it out Grumpy was like “you put that thing away”. he he.
Donna says
Absolutely delicious… love the ramekin idea, and the spinach mixture with pepperoni, oh to die for, even your sauce looks fantastic, truly superb dinner!!
nina says
You are such a clever lady!!! I love taking shortcuts and this is definitely a shortcut worth taking!!!
Jennifer says
Alright. This looks intriguing. I’m going to have to try this recipe out.
Blond Duck says
Not only do I love this b/c it’s in ramekins, but I love the ravoili. How wonderful!
Alta says
Now how cool is that? Individual ravioli-lasagnas! I like this idea.
Ciaochowlinda says
What a nifty and original idea.
Lea Ann says
This looks so good an what an interesting way to fix lasagne. Cathy, I have saved so many of the recipes you post. You find us such good stuff!!!
Cathy at Wives with Knives says
Making lasagna in individual servings is a very clever idea. I have some ravioli that would be perfect for this. Thanks for an excellent recipe, Kathy.
Fencepost says
That does look delicious. I’ll have to try it. Hopefully, my guys will eat it with the spinach rather than scrunch up their noses and turn away.
BigSis says
Brilliant idea! I’d totally try these without the pepperoni!
Daliy Diner says
What a great idea, and I bet the kids love the fun shape…mine would.
christine says
Ohhhh…I can not wait to make this!!! Question: I need to freeze these ramekins of goodness. How should I defrost/cook them when they are frozen?
grace says
what a terrific idea! i hate dealing with lasagna noodles anyway, and with ravioli, there’s even MORE cheese involved. 🙂
Audrey at Barking Mad says
My hubby just bought me a bunch of small ramekins similar to those pictured and this recipe would be a great way to break them in! Not only that, whenever I make lasagna I am always left with this huge pan and transferring leftovers out of it is a real pain!
This recipe sounds delicious!
Mama Goose says
What a great idea! My boys like different things so I can easily make adjustments for their tastes! Brilliant!
Mental P Mama says
Those are so clever! A great buffet idea;)
Pam says
You are so clever! What a fantastic idea using raviolis and putting them in ramekins. I will be trying this recipe soon.
June says
What a great idea and a super way to practice portion control. We never seem to be able to leave lasagne leftovers, so this could be a cure for that.Do you think one could freeze the prepped casseroles before cooking?
elra says
Ah, vey clever Cathy. I love your twist version.
Mary says
What a terrific recipe. I’ve seen this before but without your wonderful add-ins. I can just imagine the faces and comments you get from the guys at your table :-). Have a great day, Cathy.
Fallon says
I love this!!
Marjie says
Sounds like a good idea. But I can’t see my menfolk satisfied with just 11 ravioli, so I guess I need to triple this.
Barbie with a T says
What a great combination of flavors and seasonings. That looks like an excellent luncheon meal for guests. Individual ramekins are a good idea. Thanks for sharing this one. I will definitely try it.
Biz says
Love everything about this dish!! Definitely on my growing list of things to make – too much good food and not enough time!
Barbara says
First of all, the recipe looks delicious. Secondly, I love the idea of individual lasagnas. Bet you can freeze them too.
Kristin says
Love ravioli…Love lasagna…you could not have combined two better foods! We’re definitely going to try this over at Bitchin’ Kitchen and yes, the freezing factor is always great…ravioli lasagna for days!!
dawn says
I am ordering the larger 10 ounce ramekins now. I must have this.
The Duo Dishes says
Pre-portioned lasagna…would it be bad if someone had more than one? 🙂 How can you refuse extra lasagna?
Josie says
What a brilliant idea! I am totally stealing this the next time I crave lasagna.
stinkypaw says
This I have to make, yummy!
KarenDeborah says
looks good!
Debbie says
Ohhh that looks terrific. So different. Love the idea that it’s fairly easy to make….great…I just made my first Julia Child recipe and easy and simple sounds wonderful right now!
Misty says
What an elegant presentation for such a quick meal!
pam says
You are a genius. Really.
velva says
This is perfect for a weeknight meal! I would never had thought to use ravioli. This is beautiful!
Katrina says
Love lasagna and new ways to make it.
I really like doing individual ones in the ramekins! Feed me, feed me!
theUngourmet says
What a great idea! I love the individual ramekins. I’ve got to get some of those!
I love that last shot with the fork. It’s fantastic!
elizabethk says
HOW on earth do you make something, seemingly so simple – SO spectacular looking? I must try this!! It looks so do-able – for me, who is tired of dinner decisions, until I see things like this! Oh, thank you Noble ONE! 😉
Kathleen says
This looks amazing! I absolutely love your blog. I just started mine about 2 weeks ago. I just moved from another suburb of Sac down to OC. I’m suffering from severe culture shock!!! Yikes! How big do you actually think human lips can stretch!!!!! My husband loves the beach 🙁
Lisa says
Oh, that sounds fun! I do love to make lasagna but it is quite a production to do it the old fashioned way. This approach is definitely worth a try!
Stacey Snacks says
Cath,
I used to make a ravioli lasagne from Real Simple magazine, but I love this recipe with the individual ramekins!!!
Great idea!
I made your coconut lemon cake from last yr and will be posting it soon. It was amazing!
Stace
imom says
You are a mom after my daughter’s heart! She will LOVE this.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie says
I love this idea of using ravioli to make lasagna and the individual servings are great!
Ginny says
Delicious! What a perfect and easy dinner! 🙂
Tami Lyn says
“I just had to bring my camera to the table” Ha ha, this is probably pretty common in our little blogosphere 🙂
Looks yummy and uber comforting. I could go for that now, like right this minute…..
Rachel the SdOC says
Looks delicious and I love the individual serving sizes!
BTW, it’s not cheating if you make your own sauce!
Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer says
WOW love this.. What a great idea and so unique. Cannot wait to try this as I know this wont last long in this house!!
Paula says
This is genius! I love the individual ramkins, and how cool to use ravioli! Geez, I’m Italian and never thought of that! YUM!
Jennifer Fun House says
What a neat idea! Looks delicious!!
gfe--gluten free easily says
I made a similar dish a while back using gluten-free ravioli. It worked really well, because if you used the ravioli the typical way, it tended to fall apart. But, your addition of spinach and pepperoni and serving in a ramekin is fabulous. Who doesn’t like their food served in a ramekin? One’s own special little dish. That’s pampering for sure!
Shirley
Lydia says
I’ve just done something similar, inspired by two little Le Creuset mini-coquettes I found on sale at a discount store, and some ravioli I bought in the Italian section of Providence. It felt just a little bit like cheating to make “lasagne” out of ravioli, but the taste was oh-so-good.
Danielle says
Oh yum! This looks great…and that is easy! I’ll be giving this a try!
Meal Makeover Mom Janice says
This sounds so delicious and I’m sure my kids will love the individual portions. Brilliant!
June says
Made this last night with a few adjustments to suit personal taste, and used jarred marinara sauce for convenience. I cut some quantities to make 4 ramekins cause there’s only 2 of us and I didn’t want more than 2 servings left over. I also answered my own question re freezing and while it works to prep and freeze the casseroles before cooking – why not do it after. That way you can rewarm leftovers in a microwave rather than using the oven. Great idea with delicious results for a quick dinner. Thanks Cathy.
FairyTale Wedding Favors says
Oh my..this looks delicious, I love pastas with spinach! I’ll have to try this, thanks for another great one!
Mis says
I made this in a big casserole dish and it quickly became a family favorite here! The second time I made it, I used cheese ravioli and hot spanish chorizo instead of the pepperoni….delicious!!