Ravioli Lasagna.

So yummy and so easy!

1 package frozen cheese ravioli (I used the Costco brand - about 36 ravioli)
1 (26 1/2 ounce) bottle spaghetti sauce (I used my husband's marinara recipe)
2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook ravioli according to directions. In 9x13-inch dish spread a little bit of sauce at bottom (to prevent sticking). Put on ravioli, as many as will fit without being"tight". Put on more sauce and then cheese. Repeat until all ravioli is gone. I did three layers with 12 ravioli each. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

{My little two year old ate a ton of this. So good and other than baking time took me less than 25 minutes.}

Parmesan Garlic Bread & Marinara Sauce

Being 7 months pregnant, an entire meal can be daunting for me to prepare. Our meals have ended up being pretty simple these days ... most would call this a snack, but I call it a meal right now! Enjoy!1 French loaf
6 TBS butter, softened
8 oz shredded parmesan cheese
garlic salt (I use Lawry's)
paprika
Classico Cabernet Marinara sauce (the best!)

Preheat oven to 350*. Slice loaf in half, from end to end. Spread with softened butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt and paprika. Sprinkle again with parmesan cheese. Place loaves directly on oven rack and bake for 6-8 minutes, until cheese looks soft and edge of bread are starting to brown. Then, switch oven to BROIL and broil for about 2-3 minutes longer, keeping a close eye on it, so that it doesn't burn. Remove from oven and slice into large pieces. Serve with WARM Classico Cabernet Marinara sauce. So simple. So yummy!!

Chicken Florentine

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar Classico Traditional Sweet Basil spaghetti sauce
2 cups cream
1/2 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
grated Parmesan cheese
1 box/pkg of your favorite noodle

Preheat oven to 375*. Place chicken breasts in Ziploc bag and bang the heck out of them with a rolling pin to flatten them ... unless you have a cool meat tenderizer, in which case, I recommend one of those too. Place flattened chicken breasts in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle chicken liberally (fancy word for a lot) with garlic salt and pepper.

In a separate dish, combine sauce, cream, and spinach. If you can't find the Classico sauce, just use your favorite spaghetti sauce. No sweat. Pour entire mixture over the chicken, which will be crammed into the 9x13 baking dish. Don't stress because the chicken is squished. It's okay. Once you've poured the sauce over the chicken and finished stressing about how the chicken is squished in the pan, bake it uncovered at 375* for about 35 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, stir the sauce around as best as you can to incorporate everything again, and then dump your grated cheese all over the top and allow the cheese to melt before serving. Serve over your favorite noodle. It's stupid easy, but is tastes like it is way more difficult to make. Bonus.

**I made this dish for dinner on Friday and then invited our guinea pig friends over to eat it. I've taken the liberty of revising my made up recipe to maximize the flavors for the next time around. You're welcome. Oh, and this tastes 100x better than the picture looks too.

Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

I think this is a great recipe for sneaking vegetables into a kid's diet. (Just make sure you chop everything very small.)

Ingredients:
 12 oz ground beef or bulk sweet Italian sau-sage
 1 C chopped onion
 1/2 C chopped green sweet pepper
 1/4 C chopped celery
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 4 C tomatoes, chopped (6 large) OR 2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes
 1 (6 oz) tomato paste
 1/4 C cooking red wine
 2 T fresh parsley
 1 t dried basil, crushed
 1 t dried oregano
 1/2 t dried marjoram
 1 t sugar
 3/4 C whipping cream
 10 to 12 oz pasta

Instructions:
1. In a large pan, cook the ground beef or sausage, onion, sweet pepper, celery, and garlic until the meat is brown and onion is tender.
2. Drain fat.
3. Stir in fresh or undrained canned tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, parsley, basil, oregano, marjoram, sugar, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper.
4. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover, simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Uncover, simmer 10 to 15 minutes more or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
6. Meanwhile, cook pasta.
7. Stir in cream; heat through.
8. Serve sauce over pasta.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook p. 348

Gnocchi

Queen Bee requested that I post a picture. I wouldn't say this is the prettiest presentation, but maybe it will give an idea.

Last night my MIL taught me how to make gnocchi. There isn't much of a "recipe" but I'll do my best.

5 medium potatoes - she used Ukon Gold
1 egg
About 1 1/2 cups of flour - you want to eye it and just add flour as needed
Salt and water to boil

Boil (the same way you would for mashed) the potatoes well in advance - they must be cold before you start the process. Grate the potatoes after they have cooled. Dump the flour on the counter and make a well. Put the potatoes in the well. Then break one egg in the middle. Combine just to incorporate - don't over mix. Add flour as need - dough shouldn't be dry, but you also don't want it sticking to your hands. DON'T ADD SALT! If you add salt to the dough, it will fall apart in the water. This was a point she stressed more than once.

Once everything is incorporated, divide the dough into small balls and then roll out into "snakes". (Experiment with the flour here - we found that too much flour made the dough difficult to roll.) You can make your snakes as small as you want - the thinner the snakes, the smaller the gnocchi - I like them small. Cut the snakes into pieces the size you want - I would say about 1/4 - 1/2 long. You can then roll the gnocchi pieces on a fork or a gnocchi board, if you have one, just to make the class gnocchi "imprints".

Boil your water and add a lot of salt. MIL probably put in a good 1/4 cup...seriously. Pop your gnocchi into the boiling water. When they rise to the top, they are done. Remove them from the water, put them into the serving dish and immediately top and coat with butter so they don't stick. MIL served them with ragu last night, but you can also just do butter and cheese, or an alfredo sauce...it's up to you. Enjoy! They are yummy!!!