Recipe: Ravio-sagne | The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans LLC

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I love lasagna, not only eating it, but making it. I’ve spent years fine tuning my lasagna recipe. It is, by far, the most popular dish my coworkers ask me to make whenever we have a potluck meal. The downside? There is absolutely NOTHING healthy about my traditional lasagna recipe. It has four cheeses and two meats, one of which is sausage. So, as you probably have already figured out, it’s just not something I really make any longer now that I’m trying to live a healthier lifestyle.

Enter Chef Devin Alexander.  If you aren’t familiar with Chef Alexander, she battled her own weight demons in her teenage years, but went on to lose 55 pounds and has kept it off for over 15 years. She has gone on to a successful career as a chef specializing in cooking lower-fat, high-flavor cuisine. She has written multiple cookbooks, including many for the Biggest Loser franchise of cookbooks. 

Earlier this week, I was looking through her “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fattening” cookbook and stumbled across a recipe for a lasagna made from …. get this! … frozen ravioli!  Because it uses the frozen ravioli (no need to thaw!), it’s super quick and easy! Since it’s from Chef Alexander, it won’t blow your food plan either! It comes in at a reasonable 301 calories per serving, and it’s only 8 PointsPlus value for those on Weight Watchers which is pretty good for a cheesy lasagna!

Here are the ingredients (note: these ingredients vary slightly from the actual recipe because I used some things I had on hand):

You put this recipe together pretty much like you would any lasagna. You simply use the frozen ravioli in place of the layer of lasagna noodles.

After the layer of ravioli, top with some of the sauce, the mozzarella cheese, and some Italian Seasoning.  (Note: This is one of the changes I made.  The original recipe calls for fresh basil, but I didn’t have any so I just used some Italian Seasoning.)

Then, in typical lasagna fashion, just keep repeating the layers until the ingredients are used.  In my Pyrex 9×7 pan, I got a total of four layers. 

After baking, here is the final ooey gooey cheesy goodness followed by the recipe:

       Print This!     Ravio-sagne

  • 2 cups low-fat marinara sauce (preferably lower-sodium)
  • 25 oz. package frozen rectangular cheese ravioli (no more than 4g of fat per 9-piece serving. I used Rosetto.)
  • 6 ounces (about 2 cups plus 2 tbsp) reduced-fat, finely shredded mozzarella cheese (no more than 3g of fat per ounce), divided
  • 1/3 cup finely slivered basil leaves, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spoon 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly into the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch ceramic or glass baking dish.  Lay one-third of the ravioli (about 18 pieces) side by side in a single layer to cover the bottom of the dish.  Spoon another 1/2 cup sauce evenly over top.  Sprink one-third of the cheese and one-third of the basil evenly over that.  Repeat the layering two more times beginning with the ravioli.  cover the dish with foil.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking an additional 10 minutes, or until the pasta is heated through and the cheese is melted.  Let stand 10 minutes, then slice into six equal pieces.  Serve immediately.

Per serving (1/6 casserole): 301 calories, 18g protein, 43g carbohydrates, 7g fat (3g saturated fat), 26mg cholesterol, 4g fiber, 689mg sodium

Recipe from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fattening by Chef Devin Alexander.

I made this dish for a potluck and it was a huge hit. This recipe is definitely a keeper! I definitely think I’ll add some veggies into it the next time I make it though. I could easily see adding some mushrooms, spinach, etc.

Enjoy!

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