Baked ravioli with tomato sauce recipe

Baked ravioli with tomato sauce is an easy yet satisfying pasta dish that takes shop bought ingredients and elevates them to something really special. You can use any kind of fresh ravioli you like to make this baked ravioli, but we find that a spinach and ricotta or four cheese filling works really well. The crunchy topping with a sharp kick of pecorino adds texture and extra flavour to this ravioli bake. The results of this simple recipe are a bit like a cheat's lasagne, with layers of pasta, rich tomato sauce, and salty cheese. This ravioli bake is so quick and easy to prepare, and just takes a little time in the oven to get that irresistible golden finish before you can tuck in. Serve with a green salad for a quick yet comforting midweek meal.

Ingredients

• 1 x 500g tub fresh tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce
• 400g shop bought ravioli
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 3tbsp single cream
• 60g sourdough breadcrumbs
• 90g pecorino cheese, grated, plus extra shavings to serve
• 15g flaked almonds, toasted
• Bunch of basil leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a saucepan, gently heat the pasta sauce. Add the ravioli, spinach, 200ml water and cream, then cook for 2 min, until the spinach has wilted, then turn off the heat. In a bowl, mix together the sourdough breadcrumbs, pecorino and almonds.
2. Pour the pasta and sauce into a gratin dish and tuck in the basil leaves (reserving a few to finish). Top with the breadcrumb mixture, and bake in the oven for 15-18 min, until golden brown on top and cooked through. Serve the pasta bake topped with the reserved basil leaves and shavings of pecorino.