Spaghetti Casserole

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.

Step 2

Spray a 9" x 12 " casserole dish with non-stick spray.

Step 3

Drain 2 cans or packages Palmini Angel Hair into a colander placed in the sink. Rinse well, use kitchen shears to cut Palmini into slightly shorter pieces, and let it drain well.

Step 4

While the pasta drains, heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan with high sides.

Step 5

Add the chopped onion and cook about 5 minutes, until it’s softened and starting to brown.

Step 6

Add the garlic and ground fennel and cook 1-2 minutes more.

Step 7

Then add the Sweet Italian Sausage (or Italian Sausage of your choice), squeezing it out of the links.

Step 8

Cook sausage until it’s nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. (You might need a little more oil, depending on your pan.)

Step 9

When the sausage is well-browned, add the pasta sauce and cook at a low simmer until the sauce is very thick, about 15 minutes.

Step 10

Mix the beaten eggs and Italian seasoning with the Ricotta (or cottage cheese) and measure out the grated mozzarella and Parmesan.

Step 11

In the casserole dish, make layers with 1/2 the Angel Hair pasta, 1/2 the reduced sauce/sausage mixture. 1/2 the Ricotta/egg mixture, and 1/2 the grated Mozzarella.

Step 12

Make another layer each of Angel Hair, sauce/sausage mixture, Ricotta/egg mixture, and mozzarella. Top with coarsely-grated Parmesan.

Step 13

Bake the casserole uncovered about 45-50 minutes, or until it’s bubbling and the top is nicely browned.

Step 14

Let sit for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

Step 15

Preheat oven and spray casserole dish as above

Step 16

I used 8 ounces of whole wheat spaghetti, broken into thirds.

Step 17

Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon salt, then add the pasta and cook until pasta is barely done (a little less than package directions.)

Step 18

Drain pasta well.

Step 19

Follow the rest of the directions as above, substituting whole wheat spaghetti for the Palmini Angel Hair Pasta.

Step 20

Cooking time might be slightly shorter for the version made with spaghetti; I would start to check after 40 minutes.