Unlayered Lasagna

Sunday evening. Fridge is full of random foodstuffs, and I notice a few things that need to get used up. 1/2 a bunch of fresh spinach. 1/2 a container of Ricotta. 1 pound ground beef.

So of course, I decided a spinach lasagna would be quite tasty on this rainy night, but we didn't have lasagna noodles. So I sort of improvised and made a non-layered lasagna with Rigatoni, tomatoes, garlic, onion, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella. The end result was awesome! Very cheesy, gooey, and warming on a cold rainy night.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 bunch fresh spinach, roughly chopped
  
• 1 14.5oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
  
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste
• 1/2 pound Rigatoni, or any pasta shapes really
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1.5 cups shredded fresh mozzarella (buy a big hunk of mozzarella and shred it, instead of the pre-shredded mozzarella. It'll taste much better!)
• 1/2 cup Ricotta

Directions

1. Heat saute pan over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook 3 minutes. Add onion and garlic, and cook additional 2 minutes. Add spinach in two batches, waiting until the first batch is mostly wilted before adding the remaining spinach. Continue cooking until beef is thoroughly cooked.
2. Stir in chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, cook Rigatoni 10 minutes, or until desired doneness.
4. Drain pasta. Add beef/tomato mixture and stir. Add Ricotta cheese, stir. Add parmesan and 1/2 of the mozzarella. Stir until evenly mixed. Pour into baking dish, and top with remaining mozzarella.
   
5. Cover with foil and bake on 375 for 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.