Ravioli Lasagna

On Sundays, I like to make dinner a little bit more special than I would on a week night.  However, I don't always like to spend hours in the kitchen creating something elaborate.  This meal was perfect for our Sunday dinner.  It was quick and easy, but it tasted like I had worked harder than usual.  Win! Win!  It certainly smelled like a special dinner while it was baking.  Paired with a nice salad and some toasty garlic bread, it looked special too!

This meal does require some time to bake, but with its few ingredients, it is quick to throw together. I just used dried spices and seasonings, but I'm sure minced garlic and diced onion would be even tastier!   You can even prepare this ahead of time and freeze it for another evening, which is something I have done before. 

Ravioli Lasagna

1 lb lean ground beef
onion powder
garlic salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
1 bag frozen cheese ravioli
1 24 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brown the ground beef  over medium heat and season with spices to taste (I didn't measure.  It isn't exact).  Prepare a glass baking dish (I used a dish that was about 11 x 7, and it was the perfect size) by placing about 1/4 cup of plain sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Then add the rest of the sauce to the ground beef and heat through. 

Make one layer of frozen ravioli followed by a layer of meat sauce.  Continue to layer as such (I got three layers).  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the last layer of sauce and finish with the the mozzarella cheese.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes to melt the cheese on top.

For a meal that was so quick to throw together, it sure tasted like I spent all afternoon on it.  Yum!

Papa Murphy's Gourmet Chicken Garlic Pizza (copycat recipe)

I don't think I have been this excited about a recipe in quite some time, and I owe it all to Tammy from Tammy's Recipes.  For those of you that know and like Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza, you have to make this. And for those of you that have never heard of Papa Murphy's, you are missing out, and you, too, must make this.   It's my family's favorite pizza place...or well, it was until we moved.  There are no Papa Murphy's where we are now.  We were used to eating this pizza about once a week, and we haven't had any in six months...well, that is...until now.  One bite, and I knew it was a winner.  This particular recipe is spot on!  My husband and I just looked at each other and smiled. 

 

One of my favorite things about Papa Murphy's pizza is the crust.  It always comes out soft and chewy with just the right amount of crunch.  I could never understand how I could bake the pizza in my own oven and get such a nice crust.  It blew my theory that a good pizza crust must come from a commercial pizza oven.  Yet, any  pizza crust recipe that I would try from scratch was usually a flop.  I have used this recipe which I tweaked from  Lauren's Latest with success, but I have continued to try different recipes while perfecting my technique.  This copycat crust recipe is the easiest yet, and it yielded a crust just like I remembered.

I will probably continue to try various crust recipes from time to time, but this is definitely my new go to crust recipe.  It is quick and easy.  There is no need to wait for the dough to rise.  I've also never been able to stretch my dough into such a nice even thickness and round shape until I tried this particular recipe.  I don't know how Tammy did it, but I will be forever grateful!  Be sure to check out Tammy's blog post for tips on making this dough in a bread machine or stand mixer.

Papa Murphy's  Gourmet Chicken Garlic Pizza (copycat recipe)
from Tammy's Recipes    

For the Crust:
1 cup very warm water (115 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour or bread flour (I used bread flour)
2 tsp active dry yeast

For the Sauce:
2/3 cup ranch dressing
1/2 to 1 tablespoon minced garlic

For the Toppings:
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 grilled chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup diced green onions

In a medium bowl, mix the water, sugar, and salt.  Add the flour and yeast all at once and mix until a soft dough forms.  Gently knead the dough for 5-10 minutes, adding a little flour whenever the dough becomes too sticky.  When ready, the dough will be smooth and elastic in texture.

Grease a 16-inch pizza pan. Flatten the ball of dough and gently spread the dough out from the center to the edges.  

Mix the garlic into the ranch dressing and spread the sauce evenly over the dough.  Then mix the three cheeses together in a bowl and sprinkle half of the cheese over the sauce. Next, sprinkle the chicken, tomatoes and onions evenly over the pizza and top with the the remaining cheese.

Bake pizza in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is to your liking.  Remove pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before cutting.