We LOVE Anthony Bourdain. Have we mentioned that before? He's right up there with magicians. Oooh! {goosebumps!} His books, Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook are works of fine food poetry mixed with myths and legends of culinary cults and their famous chefs. Whoa! Mouthful!

Being amateur foodies, we both thoroughly enjoy white linen table cloth restaurants like Schwa with snobby waiters and 9 course meals. That being said, we also have work and families who require quick and tasty meals during the week.

The following is a recipe such as that. It's like a busy girl's lasagna, only we think it's better. Shhh! The egg and noodle mixture make a kind of pasta custard so it's served like lasagna only in a fraction of the time.

It makes a HUGE pan, but it freezes well. 1/2 now, 1/2 later and dinner is already done. We usually tweak the recipe a little depending on what we have and who is eating it. A friend of ours uses green chilies and spicy tomato sauce in hers. Here's the recipe, we hope you enjoy!

Spaghetti Pie (Anthony Bourdain would hate it, but we forgive him!)

10-12 oz spaghetti or angel hair pasta

2 eggs, beaten (ouch!)

1/3 c. parmesan cheese (not the fake stuff in a can)

1 T. margarine

16 oz. cottage or ricotta cheese

1 1/2 # ground beef or the protein of your choice

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. finely chopped green pepper

1 to 2 32 oz.jars of pasta sauce depending on how saucy you like it!

1 t. sugar

1/2 t. oregano

1/2 t. garlic powder

12-16 oz. shredded Mozzarella

Break spaghetti into fourths. Cook until al dente, drain.

Quickly add beaten eggs, margarine, and Parmesan into the hot pasta. Pour into a 9x13 pan.

Top with cottage cheese. (We usually add seasoning and Parmesan to the cheese too.)

Saute onions, peppers and ground beef. Drain.

Add pasta sauce, sugar, herbs, and seasonings to thebeef. Spread on top of cottage cheese and pasta.

Bake 45 minutes @ 325 degrees.

Sprinkle Mozzarella on top and return to oven until cheese melts. Let set for 10 minutes before serving.

{Like we said, it's simple and it tastes really good. It's a favorite weeknight meal when we don't have a lot of time. wendy & lisa}