Lasagna-Style Rigatoni Bake

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large family-sized skillet or stock pot over medium heat, cook sausage and beef with onions and garlic. When browned, drain off most of the grease. Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes to meld flavors while you cook and drain your rigatoni noodles according to package instructions.

In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, cooking creme, egg, Italian seasoning, all the Parmesan cheese and 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese. Stir in the cooked and drained noodles.

Spray an over-sized 10×14 baking dish with baking spray. While you are at it, spray a 2-quart casserole dish too. That is because this dish is almost too big for a 10×14, and rather than overflow it, we will make 2 dishes, one large and one small. Perfect for a fresh baked lunch with a friend or to take to your favorite shut-in!

Spread a layer of almost half the cheese covered noodles into the main pan. Next, spread nearly 1/2 of the meat sauce over the noodles and top this layer with mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with more cheese. Scrape remaining cheese covered noodles and sauce into your 1-quart baking dish, and top with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle dried parsley over the tops of both, if desired.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with Sour Cream Cheesy Bread and a big salad.