Lasghetti

It's always a nice surprise to open the fridge and find everything for a recipe I want to make.  This was a really fun creation for me and one I'll be experimenting with sometime soon.

I made my own pasta sauce with a can of crushed tomatoes, oregano, red chili pepper flakes, olives, and sundried tomato bits.  I cooked this down and then added 1 pound of cooked ground turkey.  I also had some cooked chicken hanging around so I cubed it up really tiny and threw that in the sauce as well.

I made a filling with 1 1/2 cups of ricotta and some defrosted (and well-drained) spinach, seasoned with salt and pepper.

The reason this is called LAsghetti is because I didn't have enough lasagna sheets so I cooked some thick spaghetti noodles and used those for the bottom layer.  I suppose this is a cross between baked spaghetti and lasagna...but "lasghetti" sounds so much cooler.

To assemble, lightly oil the bottom of a Pyrex dish.  This will help the noodles crisp up on the bottom - yum! The add 1/2 of the meat sauce, 1 layer of lasagna noodles, all the ricotta mix, another layer of noodles, and the rest of the meat. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

I've started foregoing the cheese in my lasagna - I don't really miss it, either - but if you want some gooey goodness, you can add 1/2 cup Parmesan to the ricotta mixture and top the whole thing with fresh mozzarella.