Yesterday was one of those days without a dinner plan. My meal plan suggested quesadillas with the leftover Taco Chicken Bowls we had a few days ago, but there wasn’t enough to go around and I wanted to eat the leftovers over rice for lunch this week anyway.
What to do…
Usually on a day like that, I’d pull some meat out of the freezer, marinade it and broil it to serve with sweet potatoes and veggies but we were out of sweet potatoes.
What’s a girl to do?
Last week we loved the Shepherd’s Pie featuring Aunt Becky’s homegrown potatoes, and I remembered I still had some garden loot leftover! A big bag of summer squash and zucchini was awaiting me :)
I have a few go-to recipes for those veggies (like this one and this one) but I was feeling creative. I poked around the freezer and pantry and ended up with this Frozen Ravioli and Summer Vegetable “Lasagna”!
Costco has great buys like this Organic Spinach Ravioli:
It comes in a 2-pack and I used the first one right away by serving it with a simple marinara sauce. I froze the second pack until I had use for it.
I’m glad I had it tucked away in my freezer because it inspired this dish!
- 1 jar Marinara Sauce
- 1lb package frozen ravioli, thawed or partially thawed so that you can separate the individual pieces
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium to large summer squash, diced
- 1 medium to large zucchini, diced
- 1 small to medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 slices of cheese (I used provolone and colby jack but would have used all provolone if I had enough - mozzarella would also be delish)
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 375*F
- In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil until they are tender. Add minced garlic and continue to sauté for 1 minute. Add diced summer squash and zucchini to the skillet as well as an additional tablespoon olive oil if the mixture looks dry. Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper over everything and continue to sauté, stirring regularly, until veggies are tender (approx 10-12 minutes).
- Into a 13x9 glass baking dish, pour ⅓ jar of marinara sauce and spread to coat the entire surface. Once veggies are tender, pour them over the sauce and spread to create a single layer.
- Arrange ravioli in rows to cover the entire surface of the dish in a mostly single layer. Pour remaining ⅔ jar marinara sauce over ravioli and spread to evenly coat.
- Lay cheese slices across the surface of the pan, covering as much area as you can (shredded cheese would work well too!).
- Shake ½ cup parmesan cheese over the whole dish, focusing on areas not covered by cheese slices.
- Bake at 375*F for 20 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes and serve!
This was a pretty random assortment of items from my kitchen, but it turned out to be very tasty! Both girls gobbled it up without a single complaint. That’s a major victory!
