Cheese ravioli layered twice with a meat marinara and a whipped mixture of cream cheese, ricotta and sour cream, baked under mozzarella until it browns.
Twenty minutes of assembly, forty in the oven, and a ten-minute rest. Eight servings.
Why This Recipe Works
- The ravioli are never boiled. They cook from frozen in the sauce, absorbing it as they go, which is why four cups of marinara is the right amount for what looks like a lot of pasta.
- Covered for the first 25 minutes. That traps the steam the ravioli need to cook through; uncovered from the start they would dry at the edges while the middle stayed firm.
- Cream cheese, ricotta AND sour cream in the middle layer. The cream cheese gives body, the ricotta gives the texture, and the sour cream brings acidity that stops it reading as flat richness.
- The cheese mixture is beaten smooth before it goes near the dish. Lumps of cold cream cheese never fully disappear during the bake, and this layer is the one people notice.
- Spraying the foil is a small instruction that saves the top of the dish. Melted mozzarella welds itself to bare foil and comes away with it.
The Dish, Bottom To Top
Step 5 is one long sentence that builds six layers. Read as a stack it is much easier to follow, and the order is what keeps the ravioli off the base of the dish.
Mozzarella and Parmesan, then foil
Two cups of mozzarella and a quarter cup of Parmesan over the top, then foil sprayed with oil so it does not lift the cheese off when it comes away.
Half the remaining sauce, then repeat
Sauce over the cheese layer, then the whole sequence again: ravioli, cheese mixture, sauce. Two full layers is what makes this a casserole rather than a tray of baked ravioli.
Half the creamy cheese mixture
Cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, half a cup of Parmesan and parsley beaten smooth. Dolloped and spread rather than poured — it is thick by design.
Half the ravioli, in a single layer
Straight from the packet, unthawed, laid flat rather than piled. A single layer is what lets them cook evenly in the steam under the foil.
1 cup of sauce, on the bare dish
Sauce first, always. Ravioli placed directly on the dish stick and tear when the first portion is lifted out.
Ingredient Notes
- Cheese ravioli, unthawed
- Two 20-ounce packages, refrigerated or frozen, and NOT thawed. They cook in the sauce; thawed ravioli go to paste.
- Italian sausage or lean ground beef
- One pound, either. Sausage brings its own fennel and seasoning; lean beef gives a plainer sauce that leans more on the Italian seasoning.
- Cream cheese, softened
- Eight ounces, softened so the middle layer beats smooth. This is the ingredient the dish is named for.
- Ricotta or small-curd cottage cheese
- One cup, and the recipe names cottage cheese as an equal alternative. Small-curd specifically — large curd stays visible as lumps.
- Marinara sauce
- Four cups, about 32 ounces. It is doing double duty as sauce and as the liquid the ravioli cook in, so a thin jarred sauce gives a looser casserole.
How to Make It
Heat the oven and grease the dish
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Brown the meat and aromatics
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage or beef and cook, breaking it up, until browned. Stir in the onion and cook 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Add the garlic; cook 30 seconds.
Build the sauce
Stir in the marinara, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
Beat the cheese mixture
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, 1/2 cup Parmesan and parsley with a pinch of salt until smooth.
Layer the dish
Spread 1 cup sauce in the baking dish. Arrange half the ravioli in a single layer. Dollop and spread half the creamy cheese mixture over the ravioli. Spoon over half the remaining sauce. Repeat the layers with the remaining ravioli, cheese mixture and sauce.
Top and cover
Top evenly with the mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover with foil (sprayed with oil to prevent sticking).
Bake covered, then uncovered
Bake covered 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes more until bubbling and golden. For extra colour, broil 1 to 2 minutes.
Rest and serve
Rest 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley and serve.
Success Tips
- Keep the ravioli frozen until the moment they go in.
- Take the meat to 160°F before the marinara goes into the pan.
- Beat the cheese mixture properly smooth — lumps do not bake out.
- Sauce the bare dish first so nothing sticks to the base.
- Spray the foil, or it will take the mozzarella with it.
Serving Ideas
Garlic bread and a sharp green salad. It is rich enough that a second starch is too much.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate up to 4 days, covered. The ravioli keep absorbing sauce and the dish firms up.
Freeze
Freezes for up to 2 months baked and cooled. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheat
Covered at 350°F with a spoonful of extra marinara over the top, uncovering at the end to bring the cheese back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I thaw or boil the ravioli first?
Neither. They go in unthawed and cook in the sauce under foil. Boiled or thawed ravioli have already had their cooking time and come out of the bake soft.
Some ravioli were still firm.
Usually a loose foil, so the steam escaped, or the ravioli were piled rather than laid in a single layer. Seal the foil down over the rim and keep each layer flat.
Is cottage cheese really as good as ricotta?
The recipe offers it as an alternative and it works, provided it is small-curd. Large-curd cottage cheese stays visible in the finished layer.
Can I leave the meat out?
The sauce would then be marinara with onion and garlic, which works but is a plainer dish. The recipe's quantities assume a pound of meat in four cups of sauce.
