At a recent kiddush, I was called over by the father of a young boy. Uh, Oh … what’s the problem? I thought. Does he want to know about an allergen or is the food too spicy like the time I served jalepeno cream cheese with the bagels? Did the child eat something his father didn’t want him to?

“What’s in the ravioli?” he asked.

“The ingredients in the casserole?” I questioned in return.

No, the ravioli, he replied.

I said that it was basic small cheese ravioli from the market’s freezer section. Nothing special except, of course, it was about the only kosher ravioli I could get at Shoprite.

All the time we are talking, the cute little boy was gobbling up ravioli as if he hadn’t eaten in a week.

“What’s going on?” I asked myself.

It seemed that this little boy is a picky eater, had never had ravioli before, and his dad was very pleased.

And that’s just one example of why we volunteers prepare kiddush week after week.

If you have a picky eater in your family, here’s the extremely easy recipe.  You don’t even need a bowl…and you don’t need a picky eater.

Jon the volunteers and maybe you’ll have A Kiddish Tale to tell, too.

Dump & Bake Ravioli Casserole

Ingredients
24 ounces frozen cheese ravioli (large or small, I prefer small)
23 ounces marinara sauce (I use Victoria from Costco. I believe Shoprite also carries it .But any sauce will do)
2 cups shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese mix
1/4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 dish with cooking spray.
3. Pour 1/4 cup of sauce over bottom of dish and spread it out to cover.
4. Arrange half of ravioli in a single layer over sauce.
5. Top with half of mozzarella cheese.
6. Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli.
7. Sprinkle Parmesan on top.
8. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.
9. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 20-25 more minutes until bubbly and hot in the center. To test, stick a table knife in the center of the pan. If the knife is hot, the food is hot. (Good way to test if you are reheating something)
10. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Variations

• For extra nutrition, add spinach or broccoli.
• Add ground vegan meat.
• Add oregano or Italian seasoning.
• Use spinach ravioli.

Super Easy No Boil Pasta Bake

This dish is a first cousin to the ravioli casserole. It uses only 4 ingredients and can be adapted for different tastes and shapes of pasta.

Ingredients
1-16 ounce box of pasta such as rigatoni, fusilli, penne, ziti, farfalle, etc.
1- 24 ounce jar of pasta sauce
24 ounces (3 cups) of water- or simply fill the pasta sauce jar
2 cups of mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine the sauce, water and pasta in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix and cover with foil.
3. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and stir well.
4. Top with cheese. Bake for ten more minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pasta is tender.

Variations

• Add extra seasoning like garlic or Italian seasoning in Step 1.
• Sprinkle Parmesan on top in Step 4.
• Add cut up vegetable to the casserole or browned ground vegan meat.
• Substitute vegan cheese. Most people won’t know the difference if the sauce is good.
• Add an envelope of taco seasoning . Use Mexican blend or taco cheese and some crumbled Doritos.. Garnish with sour cream.