Today is just one of those days…sick child, emergency dental procedure & prep for tomorrow’s 22nd anniversary meal.  It’s days like this that leftovers come in handy.  Since I had meat sauce and pasta leftovers, I decided to restructure them into an easy pasta pie. Topping my layers of pasta and meat sauce with a mixture of ricotta cheese, egg, and mozzarella gives me an effortless take on lasagna.

The leftovers combined with just a few ingredients….

Stir together cooked pasta and some of the meat sauce for the bottom layer.

Spread with remaining meat sauce…Top with ricotta mixture…Sprinkle with remaining cheese & seasoning

Easy Pasta Pie
Serves 6

2 1/2 cups meat sauce
2 cups cooked pasta
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning or oregano
butter or oil, to grease baking dish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease oven proof baking dish(6 cup capacity or 8×8) with butter or oil.  In a bowl, stir together 1/2 cup meat sauce with cooked pasta.  Pour into prepared baking dish, filling the bottom.  Cover with remaining 2 cups meat sauce.  Combine ricotta cheese and egg until well blended.  Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.  Evenly spoon ricotta mixture over the meat sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and Italian seasoning or oregano.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Allow dish to rest for 10 minutes before serving.