by Renee' Palmer

Created on: December 03, 2008

Want fantastic homemade lasagna without the time consuming measures? Yes, it is possible! Homemade lasagna, fresh from the oven in less than 30 minutes! How is it possible?

In order to do this, you are going to need a few shortcuts. Instead of the usual ingredients, you will buy fewer ingredients that combine a lot of the effort into short simple steps.

What you'll need:

4 in. deep, by 8 inch wide, by 12 inch long baking dish with lid (These are approximate measurements, but you can use whatever dish you have that is deep enough.)
Aluminum Foil (To cover the dish... if you have a dish that has a lid, that works too)

Ingredients:

16 oz. Cheese ravioli (From the frozen food section (No sauce))
16 oz. Canned Spaghetti Sauce (With meat)
8 oz. Pre-grated cheddar cheese
8 oz. Pre-grated Mozzarella cheese

In a dish, pour a small amount of the sauce, just enough to cover the bottom of the dish. On top of that, place the frozen ravioli side by side. Then, on top of the ravioli, add more sauce, just enough to cover the ravioli. Add a sprinkling of both cheeses, then more sauce, and then more ravioli, and then more cheese. Keep doing this until the dish is full or until you run out of ravioli. (Be sure to save enough cheese to put on top.) The top of the dish should have slightly more sauce than ravioli. Add cheese evenly over top. Cover with aluminum foil or lid.

Pre-heat oven to 350. Bake lasagna at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until ravioli is fully heated, and cheese is melted. It should be boiling slightly when done. About 5 minutes before its done, take the foil or the lid off to allow to cheese to crisp up a bit.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for several minutes. Cut into squares and serve. Serves 5-8.

Variations of this method are possible. For instance, if you would rather have a vegetarian lasagna, buy a meatless sauce. Or, if you would like to add some veggies to your dish, I suggest buying a frozen pepper stir fry mix, and then lightly chopping it on a cutting board before combining it in with the sauce. Another variation is to add extra meat like ground sausage to add more flavor, both to the sauce and sprinkled over the ravioli. Oven temperature can be adjusted as well to make the lasagna more or less crisp. It can be adjusted anywhere from 300-400 degrees. But be sure to keep an eye on it as oven temperatures vary.

Try it out and experiment with it. Find the right method for you and your family. I know you'll love it!

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