Italian Casserole

2 cans (8oz ea) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cans (10.5 oz ea) cream of mushroom soup
2 c. shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1 (16 oz) package of pasta -- any kind
1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook pasta according to package directions in pot of boiling water.  At same time, add ground meat to large skillet.  Break into chunks and brown over medium heat.  Once the meat is cooked, drain fat from meat if there any.  Once pasta is cooked, drain water and place in 9x13 baking pan. To meat, add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and cream soup.  You could add some shredded cheese to the mixture at this point.  Mix together and cook over medium-low heat until it begins to simmer then pour over the pasta.  Cover with shredded cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.  After removing from oven, let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.


NOTES:
•  I used ground turkey and made it into turkey sausage in the morning so the spices could work their way into the meat.  (3 tbsp. grated onion, 3 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp. poultry seasoning, 1 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 tsp. crushed red pepper)

•  I didn't have 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup so I used 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can cream of celery.  I also added some basil and oregano to the meat mixture.

•  I layered some meat sauce and cheese between two layers of pasta.  The top layer should be smothered in meat sauce and cheese.  I used about 3 c. of mozzarella cheese.

•  I baked this on my grill.  I have three burners -- I turned on one burner to the far side and it heated the grill to approximately 400 degrees.  I placed the casserole on the opposite end of the grill and grilled it for about 30 minutes until the cheese started to turn brown and bubbly.

Yummo!