Lasagne Casserole

The other night I was in the mood for something Italian, but didn't want to go to the effort of making lasagne. So I compromised by using some of the ingredients in lasagne to make a simple casserole. I used radiatore pasta (Italian for radiator), because it has a nice bite and it holds sauce really well. You could use whatever pasta you have on hand. You could also increase the amounts of cream cheese and ricotta.

Lasagne Casserole

8 oz pasta
1 lb ground chuck
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu Traditional)
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup ricotta cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
cheddar or mozarella cheese
parmesan cheese

Cook pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain. Brown ground chuck in a skillet and drain. Return to the skillet and add pasta sauce and wine. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Combine ricotta, cream cheese, and seasonings.
Place pasta in a greased baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture over the pasta. Top with the sauce. Sprinkle liberally with cheeses. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions:

Simmer sauce for about 10 minutes:

Place pasta in a greased baking dish:

Top with ricotta mixture:

Then sauce and cheeses. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes:

Yum.