Three-Cheese Skillet Lasagna

Oh, lookie!. A recipe!  Seems like forever since I posted one.

This is something I came up with yesterday to use up some broken lasagna noodles, broken jumbo shells and odds and ends of different kinds of pasta.  It also used a jar of our home-canned tomatoes from last summer.    This is an easy, one-pan dish that cooks up a lot like a boxed "helper" mix.

This makes a bigger batch of pasta than I expected, probably about eight servings.  That would be fine if Shane were here; we'd eat it for a couple of nights.  With just Kat and me here, some of it will probably end up in the freezer. 

This dish is meatless.  If you'd like to add meat, I'd suggest cooking it first, draining it and adding it back to the skillet, then following the directions from there.

Three-Cheese Skillet Lasagna

Sauce:1 quart home canned tomatoes (or 2 15-ounce cans diced or chopped tomatoes, with liquid)
3 cups water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Minced garlic to taste (I used 4 cloves)
Sugar, honey or other sweetener, to taste (I used 1/4 cup sugar)
2 Tablespoons minced parsley (I didn't have fresh, so used dehydrated)
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon salt (may want to omit if using commercially canned tomatoes)
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Remaining Ingredients:4 cups broken and/or mixed pasta, uncooked
1 cup cottage cheese
1 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a very large skillet or pan.   Stir in broken/mixed pasta.  Bring mixture to a simmer, then cover.  Cook, stirring frequently to keep from sticking, for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until pasta is tender.  Add small amounts of water as needed during cooking process.

Stir in cottage cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Spoon onto serving plates and top with additional mozzarella cheese as desired.

Makes about 8 servings.