A Day Late: Sprucing Up Packaged Foods

You must think that we eat a lot of canned food or something, but I promise that isn't the case. Every once in a while we have an "Oh man, that pasta bake thing from Domino's looks really good . . . " moment, and that's when packaged raviolis and other pastas come into play. I thought to myself: I have basil pesto ravioli, jarred sauce, fresh mozzarella that is about to expire, tomatoes, herbs that needed to get used like yesterday, and more shredded cheese. Why on earth would we go out and spend at least $10 on some pasta thing from a fast food place when I can whip it up in no time! Here's what you need:

Pasta Ravioli Bake

• 1 lb. ravioli; fresh, frozen, or dried
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• Large jar of prepared marinara sauce, or homemade!
• Tub of mozzarella cheese, the kind that comes with two "eggs" of cheese, chopped
• 1.5 tablespoons squeeze tube garlic, or 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
• 1.5 tablespoons squeeze tube basil, or 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• Shredded mozzarella cheese for melting over the top
• Dollop of creme fraiche, or sour cream (optional)

Easy! I'll bet you have at least half of those ingredients on hand already. All I did was boil the pasta until just al dente, go a couple minutes shy of what the package recommends. Mix the fresh herbs into the pasta sauce along with the creme fraiche if you have it (and are, cough, trying to use it up). Layer like a lasagna: sauce on the bottom, then noodles, then cheese, then more sauce, rinse and repeat until you have the final layer of sauce on top and then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake with foil over it for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 15, or until the cheese is fully melted. Let cool at least 15 minutes and then serve ^_^