Baked Ravioli, Lydia style

One of my favorite TV cooks to watch is Lydia Bastianich.  I love watching her cook homemade Italian meals.  And often she gives tips  about how to devise your own meals, no recipe needed.  So I took a tip from her on building my own marinara and it came out GREAT.

It was soooo good!
I started with frozen whole wheat ravioli, crushed Italian tomatoes, approximately 1 1/2 c. of mire poix,  some fresh Italian sausage, garlic, mozzarella, and my secret ingredient:  anchovies!  Please don't tell Bubbie - he is a dedicated anti-fish person...

If you have never made anything with anchovies in it, let me just tell you right now:  you use a very small amount and it won't overpower what you cook.  Years ago I made a Caesar Salad recipe from Neiman Marcus to serve at my bridesmaid's luncheon.  Anchovies made the dressing the star of the salad!  The trick is to just use a couple of them.

I sauteed the anchovies (2 of them) in some olive oil along with the chopped garlic.  The fish melts into the oil.

I added in my mire poix.  If you don't have mire poix already made, chop some carrot, onion, and celery up finely, about a cup and a half.  Then saute that with your garlic mixture for about 5 minutes.

Next I added a can of crushed tomatoes, 

and some cooked and drained Italian sausage. {you could also add some Italian seasoning or such}  I simmered it all for about 30 minutes.

I made one dish of ravioli to freeze, one for that night's supper.  Butter or oil the dish, add a little sauce, then start layering ravioli, sauce, cheese until you end up with cheese.  You could skip the top layer of cheese on the one you are freezing, then just top it when it's thawed and ready to cook. {Tip:  toss your freshly grated mozzarella with some parmesan to make it easier to sprinkle on top without it landing in giant globs.  Plus, parmesan adds great taste!}

I'm not sure it matters if you top it with cheese before you freeze it.  I guess it depends on whether you like the cheese to get a little browned.  Fully thawed I cooked it for about an hour, some of that time uncovered.  I let it sit in the hot oven while I tossed a salad - I wanted to make sure it was nice and bubbly.

This 9 inch pie plate holds enough ravioli and sauce for 5 people!

YUM.

And since it was so well-received, my peeps will be happy to know another pan of it is in their future!

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Miz Helen's Country Cottage