I like eating lasagna, but I don't like making it. It's just a little too tedious for me....and I also am not a fan of ricotta cheese. So I find myself drawn to recipes that give me all of the taste of lasagna...but in a dish that is far easier to make and foregoes ricotta.
And so it goes with this dish. The only real work involved is making the "Bolognese Sauce". I put that in quotes because this Lauren Miyashiro recipe uses a simpler, quasi-Bolognese Sauce. Bolognese Sauce, the real deal, requires massive amounts of knife-chopping prep and 3 to 4 hours of simmering. Her sauce comes together in about 10 minutes. Becky and I found it to be a delicious and reasonable facsimile.
So the bottom layer is a breeze....uncooked tortelloni. Just spread it on the bottom of the dish and it gets cooked as the dish bakes. You can use ravioli or tortellini as well...really makes no difference. The next layer is the Bolognese Sauce. Then you top it with a heap of mozzarella cheese and slide it into the oven.
This makes for a perfect weeknight dinner. You just cut it into squares to serve....just like lasagna. Lauren's recipe will serve 6 to 8 folks, depending on how hungry everybody is. We served it as a Saturday night dinner for four and had enough to freeze for another like gathering.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound hot Italian sausage
1/2 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1, 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2, 9-ounce packages fresh (refrigerated) cheese tortelloni
3 cups shredded mozarella
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced basil, for garnish (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a large baking dish with oil. In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add ground beef, sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Drain fat.
- Return beef mixture to skillet over medium heat and pour in wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Cook until reduced by about half, then add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, oregano and season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
- Put uncooked tortellini in prepared baking dish. Pour over meat sauce and stir until coated. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan, then cover dish tightly with foil.
- Cook for 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook for additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is browned. Then slice and serve, garnishing each serving with basil.
Wine pairing: Chianti
