Complaining and Cooking

Yes, I'm still sick! I went to the doctor today and begged him to find something wrong with me that could be treated with antibiotics, but he was all "It's clearly viral...." so I left prescriptionless and still sneezing and coughing. Last night, for the first time in my whole life, I took Nyquil. It allowed me an hour or two of uninterrupted sleep in between bouts of furiously wiping my nose. I will take it again tonight.

Speaking of wiping my nose, I am a big fan of Kleenex Ultra-Soft tissues. I do like the ones that have lotion, but they aren't as all-purpose as these (for instance, don't even think about wiping your glasses with the gooey ones!). But curiosity got the better of me and I had to try a box of the new Kleenex Cool-Touch tissues. It's very strange, but they are indeed cool to the touch—but not in the menthol-y way I was expecting! They are actually cool temperature-wise. Very strange. And they have lotion. Although they are labeled "unscented," I could detect a hint of something, and I can't stand that. Plus the coolness was more weird than soothing, so back to Ultra-Soft I go.

And ... this was supposed to be a post about what I made for dinner, but I got sidetracked by my own intro. What could be a better way to introduce a recipe than to discuss my endlessly runny nose and what I use to wipe it? Sigh. So go away and come back in 5 minutes and start reading again.

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Hi! Tonight for dinner I made a cheater's lasagna where you use frozen ricotta-filled ravioli instead of a tub of ricotta and slippery sheets of freshly cooked lasagna noodles. I've done this before, long ago, but had kind of forgotten about it. I think of this recipe as just a general guideline; you could vary it any way you please. Enjoy!

Ravioli Lasagna 

1¼ lb. bulk Italian pork sausage (I used garlic-herb chicken sausages, casings removed.)
1 jar (26 to 28 oz.) tomato sauce
1 package (25 to 27½ oz.) frozen cheese-filled ravioli (I used spinach-ricotta ravioli, which worked out great.)
2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (10 oz.), divided use
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In a 10-inch skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, until no longer pink; drain on paper towels. (If, like me, you are using a chicken or turkey sausage, you'll need to start with some oil in the pan.)

Spread about ½ cup of the sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 13x9" glass baking dish. Arrange the still-frozen ravioli in a single layer, then evenly pour about 1 cup of sauce over the ravioli. Sprinkle evenly with half of the cooked sausage and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with another layer of ravioli, sauce, and sausage.

Cover tightly with foil; refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours. (This is kind of tricky timing, because you have to do it either before breakfast or after dinner the night before. I did it at 10am, so it didn't stay in the fridge for the full 8 hours, but I don't think it suffered any.)

Heat the oven to 350°. Bake the lasagna, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove the foil; sprinkle the lasagna with the remaining 1½ cups mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake about 15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted and the lasagna is hot in the center. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Comments

[Katy]

Sorry you're still sick!! Get well soon! About the recipe...what kind of sauce do you use? I used Barilla for a long time when I read Cook's Illustrated sing their praises, but then the recipe was updated at some point in the last few years and now it's inedible. I know there are some good Whole Foods brands out there in the $8-$10 range, but I think there must be a mainstream brand out there that's good if I can only find it.

[amy]

Karen, hope you feel better soon. It is so DRAGGY when colds linger, I admire you cooking at all when you're feeling down...i usually just end up ordering pizza for everyone else and sit around drinking tea.

Katy, instead of using jarred sauce i make this instead--it really is quick and can sit while you're cooking the sausage: Ingredients
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and let sit for about 20 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

In a total jam though, I've used Rao's Homemade, which I buy at Roche's. What about everyone else on here?

[kate]

This dish was terrific! Thanks so much. I used Trader Joe's organic marinara, although I think Rao's is better than my own homemade sauce.