Lazy lasagna . . .

This is a favorite of my kids. I have changed this recipe a little from my mother in-law's recipe, but it works great. I think any changes would be easy and would work well. She called it baked spaghetti, but we like to call it lazy lasagna . . .

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with pepperoni (we use turkey pepperoni) and then layer with cooked pasta. The original recipe called for spaghetti (hence the baked spaghetti name) but I like to use rotini. My little ones seem to be able to stab the rotini better, but you could aways use elbows, bow ties, or even shells.

Follow that with layers of hamburger or sausage, more pepperoni, spaghetti sauce, more pasta etc. For those of you who do not have picky children you could even use mushrooms, peppers, olives, tomato slices, or squash. Finish the layers with addidtional sauce.

Bake in an oven for about 45 minuites depending on the thickness at 350 degrees, sometimes Icover it with foil, sometimes I don't. Pull out the casserole, remove the foil, add mozarella and place back in the oven for about 10 minutes. You can always finish off with the broiler for a couple minutes if you like the cheese a little crusty.

The best part about this is how easy it freezes. After I have layered the lassagna, I add the final sauce and freeze it. If you use some pre-browned hamburger or sausage, you could easily make 2 or 3 of these in about 30 minutes after the kids have gone to bed. It doesn't require any defrosting when you are ready to use it. Simply pull it out of the freezer and pop it into the oven. You may need to add some extra cooking time for a frozen batch. I even make the ones I am going to freeze in disposable pans so I don't have to clean up. Lasagna pans stink to clean!

Perfect for nights when you've had a rough day and you have nothing ready. All you need is some cheese and some garlic toast and you have an awesome meal!