Easy Baked Spaghetti

I was craving pasta so I made this fast-kine baked spaghetti the other night.  I followed the recipe from the Salt & Lavender site. 

I used a tube-shaped pasta instead of spaghetti and Italian sausage instead of ground beef.  Also, my bottle of marinara sauce was around 1 cup shy, but still came out okay.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
• Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it for 2 minutes less than the package directions indicate. Once it's done, drain it and add it to a 9x13 casserole/baking dish.
• Meanwhile, add the beef, onion, oregano, and red pepper flakes to a skillet. There should be enough fat released by the beef to cook the onion, but if it's particularly lean, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned/cooked through (about 10 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
• To the skillet, stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute, then add in the marinara sauce and cook for a few more minutes until it's warmed through. I stir in some salt & pepper as well.
• Pour the beef mixture over top of the spaghetti. Toss until everything is coated. Smooth it out into an even layer.
• Top with the cheeses and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you want (watch it carefully). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve by cutting it into squares using a spatula.