MUST HAVE PASTA TONIGHT

If you're like a lot of active kids, you crave CARBS.  Here's the absolute bare bones recipe for baked pasta..it pains this pseudo-chef to have you buy already-made sauce, but when you've got a craving, it does not include complication...so here goes:

MUST HAVE PASTA NOW, Baked Ziti:  BBB (basic beyond belief)  

(you can add pretty much ANYTHING to the dish before cooking including: nuts; olives; tofu; lightly cooked or leftover veggies such as: onions, carrots, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, green peppers, eggplant, zucchini;..you name it, it will work, and if it doesn't, by god, you'll snarf it down anyway, we all know)

Ingredients:
about a pound of ziti or penne the big ones
Italian sausage, spicy or not - any old grocery store version will do-either sliced or cut down center and remove casings (I like this better-do your roommates a favor and don't fling the casings onto the counter or into the sink-ewwwww)
11/2 to 2 big cans (more or less) of tomato sauce (if you insist on getting fancy, throw in some dried basil and oregano and call it "homemade")
mozzarella - real or fake, shredded, cubed, any which way will do-about a pound
grated parmesan or the kind in the green can (my grandmother is already rolling in her grave as we speak)

Set oven to 400
o  find a 9x13 baking pan, lightly spray it with oil
o  Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta AL DENTE...not mushy, like about 9-10 min worth/drain
o  while pasta is boiling, heat a large frying pan with a splosh of olive oil to med. high..when it's hot toss the sausage in there and break it up as it browns. This is splattery so don't be putting your face in the pan to smell the deliciousness.  Don't keep stirring it, let it brown then stir.
o  When sausage loses its pink color, you might wish to drain off the oil and you might not...no one is looking. Your heart may thank you later on in life if you drain...and your kitchen plumbing may thank you if you drain into a tomato can and not the sink.
o  pour sauce in frying pan...use your best judgement on this - look at your pan, look at the amount of pasta you're cooking, look at the sausage...if you misjudge it's not the end of the world, it's just a little messy.
o  simmer until sauce is bubbly
o  spoon some sauce into baking pan. Throw some pasta on top of that along with a sprinkling of mozzarella. Now that there is more room in your frying pan, mix the pasta and sauce together in there - go slowly-you are aiming for gloppy, gooey, yummy. (If you have leftover pasta, that's fine.) Put in more mozzarella but leave enough to sprinkle on top. Dump all this into baking pan and top with grated parmesan and a good helping of mozzarella.  If it's all the way to the top of the pan, put a big piece of tin foil on the rack below your ziti to catch any drips.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbling and a little browned on top.
Serve with salad and bread or eat with a soup spoon and lots of napkins.
NOTE:  You will need to do some laundry tonight.