Easy end-of-workday meal: Spaghetti "Cake"

What's a food blogger to do at the end of an exhausting workday when he is too pooped to cook, but he has spoiled his D.P. with so many good meals that the D.P. no longer sees any advantage to dining out?  This sad situation transpired in our house on Friday night, and I was forced — admittedly not exactly against my will, as I grabbed my camera and my ingredients and prepared to engage in the Joy of Cooking — I repeat, I was forced to come up with the following easy one-dish meal.

I may be bone-tired (and a bit blurry), but I can still feed my family!

"Easy" may be a little misleading.  If you don't already have the right ingredients on hand, you're in for a rather long slog.  Remember this, my friends, and freeze bits of this and that for when YOU are to pooped to cook.  So what are the ingredients I used to throw this meal together?

• leftover spaghetti (if you stored this in the fridge w/a little oil to keep it from clumping, you don't have to add any extra oil in step 2)
• leftover tomato sauce from the freezer (if you ain't got this already prepared, don't expect easy!)
• an egg
• olive oil
• cottage cheese
• Asiago cheese
• 1 slice of stale bread

You have probably figured out by now that I am not a stickler for following recipes to the letter.  Just think of this procedure as a template, and use whatever you have around.  I mean, you have to have some sense of culinarity for this.  (Yep, I made up that word.)  You wouldn't want to substitute lime jello for the tomato sauce (probably), but the shape of the pasta and the exact types of cheese can be varied ad libitum and ad yummium.

Here, in an uncharacteristically structured presentation, is an illustrated step-by-step guide to recreating what Michael and Peter enjoyed on Friday night along with a rather nice Beaujolais.  (I adore the "remnants" box next to the register at the wine store almost as much as the cheese ends basket at WF.  You can try formerly pricey vintages at a nice discount, as long as you aren't looking for something very specific.  And there can tend to be some questionable bottles in there, left unchosen by legions of shoppers for a very good reason; a little oenological knowledge is helpful here.)

Step 1: Plop your cooked pasta in a baking dish.

Step 2: Add a drizzle of olive oil and 1 beaten egg and toss thoroughly, spreading the pasta out into a "crust" that fills the entire bottom of the dish.

Step 3: Add little mounds of cottage cheese or spread it out into a whole layer or spell out the name of your beloved, as desired.

Step 4: Carefully spoon your tomato sauce over the top, covering all the cottage cheese if possible.  If you like some bites of pasta to get crunch/gummy (I do!), leave some noodles exposed around the edges.

Step 5: Grate a slice of stale bread and a hedonistic amount of Asiago or other grating cheese and mix together well.  Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the tomato sauce layer and drizzle it with a few teaspoons of olive oil to 1) add richness & flavor and 2) wet it all down enough to keep your convection oven from blowing the crumbs right out of the dish.

Step 6: Bake.  I used my convection oven on 300 degrees for 30 minutes or so — you want the cottage cheese nice and gooey.  If your crumbs are burning on top, you could add foil.  I always find that the burnt bits are the tastiest, though!  Well, up to a point.

That's it — I told you it was easy.  The prep time was maybe 15 minutes (and I was photographing simultaneously, which slows me down a bit).  From assembly to serving in three quarters of an hour; what a joy to be able to sit down to a hearty home-cooked meal after a long workday. . .without stressing yourself.  It makes for a good life, I tell you.

Here's to a great week, everyone, and to getting 25% off whatever brings you happiness!

Cheers!