Ravioli Casserole?

[cbayer]

I have a package of mushroom stuffed ravioli from Trader Joe's, a lot of Mozzarella cheese that needs to be eaten, an open jar of spaghetti sauce and some fresh basil that is wilting fast.

I am considering doing something similar to a lasagna - layering ravioli, sauce, cheese and baking.

Has anyone any experience with this? Should I cook, or partially cook, the ravioli first?

I have never had it before, but it sounds like it might be better than just ravioli with sauce.

:shrug:

[lizerdbits]

1. Maybe partially cook the ravioli?

I'm not sure they'd absorb enough liquid from the sauce to fully cook. I'm reminded of the America's test kitchen recipe for lasagna where they briefly soak the 'no cook' noodles because they didn't cook enough in the dish. Adding water to the dish you're thinking about might just give watery sauce and soggy ravioli. If you try it let us know what happens, that sounds interesting.

Note: I've not tried this before.

[Duer 157099]

2. Parboil the ravioli first

And, if you really want to be adventurous... fry the ravioli in some olive oil (and/or butter) to get a nice crust, then proceed as you described.

Once I tried frying ravioli, I found I really like it that way.

[cbayer]

3. Do you think I should parboil then fry?

That sounds really delicious. I love the crusty ends on a lasagna and this might achieve the same result.

:hi:

[Duer 157099]

5. My opinion - can work both ways

If you have time, parboil - if not, don't. Or try half and half and see which works better. I suppose it depends on the ravioli.

There's not much you could do to ruin this, imho, so go with your instincts

[Stinky The Clown]

4. That's called "Baked Ravioli"

A saple of the family Sunday dinner table and tomato and meatball old timey Italian Ristorante

[auntAgonist]

6. I bake mine just like you said.

I don't cook the ravioli first. I start right from frozen.

works just fine for us.

tasty.

aA
kesha

[cbayer]

7. This is where I might be confused.

My ravioli's aren't frozen, they are refrigerated. Do you think frozen ones are precooked?

:shrug:

[auntAgonist]

8. The directions on the frozen ravioli says you have to boil

them. :shrug: So, maybe they aren't pre-cooked? I never really thought of it. I've seen the fresh ravioli in the store too, I've just never purchased them. I would think you could bake them fresh OR frozen.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

9. Go for it !

I have a recipe for a ravioli casserole that calls for the same ingredients - plus some turkey meatballs (sliced) and spinach. Very tasty !

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

10. deleted dupe

[Warpy]

11. My idea would be this one

Cook the ravioli until al dente, put into a serving dish in a shallow layer, cover with sauce and masses of cheese, run under the broiler to melt and start to brown the cheese, and serve.

I think layering it like lasagna and baking would be difficult to pull off, giving you either chewy or mushy ravioli.

Best to cook it properly on top and then run it under the broiler to melt a cheese topping.

[cbayer]

12. Thanks, everyone. This turned out really great!

I ended up cooking the ravioli al dente making two layers of the sauce, ravioli cheese, with a pretty thick cheese layer on the very top.

I baked it for about 30 minutes, the put it under the broiler for about five, as recommended above.

It was absolutely perfect and very, very simple.

There are leftovers and I can't wait to have move today.

Happy Cinco de Mayo all you wonderful C&B people.

:hi:

[hobbit709]

13. I just put a layer of frozen ravioli in the bottom

Cover it with sauce, add another layer of ravioli. Cover with more sauce.
Cover the whole thing with shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan and bake.
When the cheese starts to brown, it's done.
Been doing it that way for years.
Serve with fresh baked garlic bread.
My wife loves it and she's a real picky eater.

[cbayer]

14. Mine came out great and I will definitely be making it again.

I have very limited freezer space, so I have to use fresh ravioli. Still not sure whether I needed to precook it or not, but i did.

I think this is a dish that just about anyone could enjoy!

:hi: