Pasta Pie

There is a great website where I get most of my recipes from, it is called Pinterest.  Basically this website is a bookmark page, but you can choose what categories you want them under.  Also, it doesn't show it by URL, but it shows it by pictures of what you "pinned".  This website has seriously changed my life I love it.  Alright I am obsessed with it.  I highly reccomend you checking it out, if you like it let me know and I can send you an invite to join it.  It is amazing.

So since I am always pinning recipes from food websites or food blogs, I have a lot of new things I want to try.  Brady and I try to cook one recipe a week, so this weekend we made something called Pasta Pie.

Looks a little funny right?  Well guess what?  It is DELICIOUS!!  When I woke up the next morning I was already looking forward to lunch so I could have the left overs.

I pinned this recipe from a food blog the Noble Pig. 

Ingredients:
1 lb rigatoni pasta
28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 lb ground beef
2 gloves of crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp of freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
8 oz grated mozzarella cheese

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large pot of boiling water cook 1 lb of rigatoni pasta until slightly underdone.  (stop cooking about two minutes before it says to stop on the box).  When done drain and toss put back in the pot.  Toss Pasta with 1 tablespoon olive oil to coat and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add 1 pound of beef and cook until brown.  Then add 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper.  Cook for another two minutes.
4. Add 1 can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes to the ground beef cooking.  Simmer until thicked which is about 20 minutes.  When we were making this I didn't see that it said about 20 minutes and I think we had it cook for about 5 minutes, so do what you feel.
5. Take the pasta and mix in 1 cup of grated parmasen cheese.  Butter a 9 inch springform pan and tightly pack the noodles in the pan standing straight up.

6. Spread the meat sauce over the noodles and push them into the holes.  We used a fork to push them down.  Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes
7. Sprinkle 8 oz of mozzarella cheese on top and cook it for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese starts to golden.
8. Let cool for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the pan and then unmold.  We used a different type of pan and couldn't really figure how to get it out.  Luckily my roommate Brooke was there and had a brilliant idea!

Mmmmmmmm enjoy! :)