This wannabe lasagna is good!

This recipe is excellent! Especially for people like me.. I don’t usually keep lasagna noodles in our cupboard, lol. So this wannabe lasagna uses bow tie noodles, which are awesome!

In this recipe, I also used freeze dried spinach. Freeze dried spinach (and other freeze dried veggies) are great to have around. Makes cooking some things faster, as you have to prep less. If you’re thinking of maybe getting a freeze dryer, check out our Freeze Drying section!

Wannabe Lasagna - but with other pasta

Want lasagna but don't have the right pasta? No problem! This is fairly simple and so so good! It is totally teenager approved, too!!

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 11

Total Time 1

Course Main Course

Equipment

1 large pot - for cooking the noodles
1 large skillet - like a cast iron frying pan or ceramic coated big one
1 medium saucepan - for the sauce
1 9x9 glass baking dish - or something comparable to that

Ingredients

For the pasta

2 cups bow tie noodles - or other noodles of your choice, like elbow or spiral, any noodles really
1/2 lb cream cheese - about half a block of it
1 Tbsp olive oil - so the noodles don't stick together

For the sauce - if making your own - can also just use a jar of spaghetti sauce

1 can tomato sauce - this is with nothing at all added, it's just plain tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes - I used a pint sized jar of our own canned tomatoes
1 cup spinach, finely chopped - I used freeze dried spinach, about 1/2 cup - can also use frozen, just make sure it's chopped small
2 Tbsp sweet basil - I love sweet basil, you may not want this much, but I think it's great!
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
2 tsp white pepper - black pepper is also fine
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp chili powder or chipotle powder - this is optional

For the meat

1 lb ground beef
2-3 bell peppers - I used a bunch, but mine were small - if you've got medium sized ones, I'd use 3
1/2 large sweet onion - or a whole small one - more onion won't hurt, just preference
2 Tbsp minced garlic - you can use the minced garlic from a jar for this, doesn't have to be fresh
1 Tbsp butter - regular, real butter, no fake stuff, lol

Topping it off

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

For the noodles

Fill your large pot with water as per directions on the noodles.
Add the olive oil to the pot, this helps noodles not stick together.
Once pasta is done, quickly strain, put it back in the pot, and add the cream cheese. You want the cream cheese to melt and make the pasta kind of creamy.

For the sauce - if using pasta sauce from a jar, skip all this

Place saucepan on stove over medium heat.
Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spinach, and all spices.
Let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes so all the flavors combine properly. I chopped veggies and made the meat while the sauce simmered, stirring every once in a while.

For the meat

Heat up your large skillet on the stovetop and start browning the ground beef.
While the ground beef is on the stove, chop up the onion and pepper. Also chop up the garlic now, if you're using fresh.
Finish browning the meat an set aside in a bowl.
Return skillet to the stove, add the butter.
Once the butter is melted, add the onion, pepper and garlic. Move things around a lot so nothing burns.
After everything is cooked, the onions are soft and kind of see through, and the peppers are nice and soft, add the browned meat back into the skillet and mix it all together well.

Put it all together

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix the noodles and cream cheese (which should be melted by now) around a bit to make sure the noodles are pretty evenly covered.
Put about half the noodles in the 9x9 baking dish, spread out in an even(ish) layer.
Put half the meat in the baking dish on top of the noodles, spread it out in as even a layer as you can.
Put half the sauce on top of the meat, spreading it evenly.
Do it all again... Add the rest of the noodles and spread out for noodle layer number two.
Add the rest of the ground beef mixture.
Add the rest of the sauce.
Add the mozzarella cheese on top. You can also sprinkle a bit of sweet basil onto it if you'd like.
Bake in your preheated oven (350F) for about 20 minutes.. until all the cheese melts.
And... it's done. Enjoy!