Anti-Lasagna

Here we continue the theme of easy recipes using our pre-made meat sauce (see last Saturday's post for details).

I love lasagna, but I dislike taking the time to painstakingly lay out each layer of noodles, meat, cheese, etc. No-boil noodles make it a little easier, but it's still a lot of hassle. This delicious recipe allows you to forgo the hassle and just dump everything together. It tastes just like the original thing, and you don't miss the layers of noodles at all.

Ingredients

• 1 box (1 pound) pene, farfalle (bow tie), or fusilli (corkscrew) pasta, slightly undercooked
• 5 cups (about half a batch) of Saturday's (12/20/08) meat sauce, (fresh or thawed)
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 4 eggs
• 32 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese (about 1 ounce, you probably want to use the good stuff)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsely
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray or vegatable oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add cheeses, parsely, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and mix until well combined. Lube a large baking dish with nonstick spray. Dump pasta into baking dish. Mix sauce with Italian seasoning and basil and pour onto the noodles. Smoothly spread cheese mixture on top with a rubber or silicone spatula. Bake for 1 hour or until the top has set up and is starting to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.