Recipe: Mock Lasagna

Mock Lasagna:

One of my personal favorites, great leftover and easy for kids to eat! This recipe can easily be made vegan by leaving out the meat and beef bullion and substituting the cream cheese for a vegan substitute, making the meal even healthier. You can also add broccoli or any other vegetables that you like!

Ingredients:
small noodles of your choice (Ziti, or anything spiral works great for this recipe, it really locks in all of the sauce)
1 lb. ground beef (or more if you prefer a lot of meat in your mock lasagna)
Mama's spaghetti sauce (recipe below)
1 package low fat cream cheese
2 cloves garlic
mozzarella cheese

Prep:
heat oven to 350 degrees. Boil noodles for half as long as the package says, then pour into a casserole dish. brown ground beef in a pan with the 2 cloves of garlic. Drain the meat and mix in with the under cooked noodles, pour in Mama's spaghetti sauce until the mixture is thick, add 1 1/2 cups of water and mix in (because the noodles will continue to cook and absorb the moisture from the sauce) cover with foil, put in the oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take it out and mix chunks of cream cheese (roughly tablespoon sized pieces) into the pasta, making sure that they are covered in sauce but not too far below the surface. Remove foil and place back into the oven for another 20 minutes. Take out, stir in the (not completely melted) chunks of cream cheese until the pasta is almost bright orange. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and let melt for a minute or so (put under a broiler if you prefer your cheese bubbly and browned) and serve! Great with garlic bread and salad!


Sauce ingredients:
1 large white onion, diced
2 16-ounce cans of diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce if you don't like chunks)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried basil
6 gloves minced garlic
1 cube beef bullion (or 1 tablespoon of powder) dissolved into 1/2 cup of water
1 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup of sugar

Prep:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, heat to boiling and let simmer (stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes. If you're in a hurry you can start with a jar of spaghetti sauce and cut the spices amount in half. Or add a jar of spaghetti sauce to make this recipe go further the next day!