Busy, busy time of year.  That means I have to be on top of my dinner plans or we will be eating take-out or going to restaurants.  Not, the money I want to be spending this time of year.  Also, I need to have quick easy dinners I can make ahead, put in a slow cooker or a one skillet meal I can have on the table within an hour.

This dish was perfect for the make ahead in about an hour category.  I had a bit of extra time this weekend so I was able to cook some meat for the week ahead.  I cooked the Italian sausage so that this meal only took about 15 minutes to assemble (mostly spent while the pasta was boiling) and then about 35-45 minutes to bake.

Verdict:

My family is not big on pasta meals especially if they are bland spaghetti and sauce.  This one had amazing flavor, was moist and delicious.  Plus, if you make a mistake and forget to cook the pasta first in the oven it still turns out just fine.

I served this with green beans and a green side salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage, cooked, drained and broken into small pieces
• 4-6 oz. sliced pepperoni
• 1 jar of your favorite prepared spaghetti sauce or home-made sauce
• 1 (16 oz) box of this spaghetti, broken into 2″ pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tsp garlic powder, divided
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 3 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Combine eggs, milk, Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, salt, and 1 tsp garlic powder in a large bowl. Stir in cooked spaghetti; mix well.
4. Spread the spaghetti mixture into prepared baking dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees.
6. While spaghetti is baking in a bowl mix spaghetti sauce, oregano, basil and garlic powder with the sauce.  Adjust spices to your families tastes – you want it to taste like pizza sauce.
7. Once spaghetti is removed from the oven spread prepared spaghetti sauce over spaghetti.  Then cover the sauce with the sausage.  Place the pepperoni in a single layer to cover the entire pan overlapping slices slightly.  Then sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top.
8. Return dish to the oven, and bake until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes more. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.