Pesto Chicken Ravioli Bake
Frozen cheese ravioli, shredded chicken and spinach baked under a quick garlic-parmesan pesto cream, finished with a panko crust. Lasagne flavours with no noodle boiling.
Pesto Chicken Ravioli Bake
Ingredients
Bake
- 1 lb (450 g) frozen cheese ravioli, not thawed
- 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded (a rotisserie bird works)
- 4 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
Pesto cream
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup basil pesto
- ¾ cup grated parmesan
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Topping
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Instructions
- Make the sauce.
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Whisk the cream, pesto, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl until smooth.
- Layer.
Spread a quarter of the sauce over the base of the dish. Add half the ravioli in a single layer, then half the chicken, half the spinach and half the tomatoes. Spoon over half of the remaining sauce. Repeat with the rest of the ravioli, chicken, spinach and tomatoes, then pour over the last of the sauce and scatter on the mozzarella.
- Bake covered.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling at the edges and the ravioli is tender when poked with a knife.
- Crisp the top.
Toss the panko with the olive oil and parmesan. Remove the foil, sprinkle the crumbs over the cheese and bake for 12 to 15 minutes more, until the top is golden.
- Rest.
Let the dish stand for 10 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens and the layers hold together.
Notes
Do not thaw the ravioli: Frozen ravioli holds its shape and soaks up sauce as it steams under the foil. Thawed pasta goes soft and sticks together.
Sauce looks thin going in: That is intended. The ravioli takes up a good amount of liquid in the oven, and the uncovered stage reduces the rest.
Spinach: Packed raw leaves cook down to almost nothing. Squeeze nothing out, just chop and layer.
Make ahead: Assemble without the panko, cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Add 10 minutes to the covered bake.
Swaps: Use sun-dried tomato pesto for a deeper flavour, or swap the chicken for sliced cooked sausage.
