Easy Weeknight Dinner- Skillet Lasagna

One of the many perks of being a stay at home mom is the luxury of getting in a bit of the Today show (either before Logan wakes up or during his am nap) and last week (or a few weeks ago, not sure.....shocked, I'm not)
I happened to catch the cooking/Today's Kitchen segment where Christopher Kimball was making a lasagna dish all in one skillet. Totally intrigued.
It was so easy I was able to pretty much remember it (with a few minor ad-libs) and found a blogger who made a version of it so I could add it to my "Dinner Time" Pinboard- since lately I (along with quite a few of my friends) am totally using Pinterest to meal-plan every week!

The original recipe is courtesy of Cooks Illustrated HERE
The "What's Cookin Chicago" blog version HERE
and my version, well....here...

28oz can diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic- coarsely chopped
red pepper flakes
oregano
basil
1 pound fresh Italian sausage (or Italian turkey sausage), remove from casing and crumble up- OR, EVEN BETTER, buy round Italian sausage that has not been "sausage'd" into casing at all- some markets will have this, ask your butcher too!! 
10 dry curly edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces
8oz  tomato sauce
a few handfuls shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
about a cup of ricotta cheese
Water, olive oil, salt & pepper
chopped fresh basil for garnish/serving, optional

Pour diced tomatoes with their juices into 4 cup liquid measuring cup. Add water until mixture measures 4cups; set aside.

In a large skillet that has a lid, add 1-2 T of olive oil over medium heat, let it heat up for a few minutes. Add onion and a pinch of salt and cook about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili pepper flakes, basil & oregano (I eyeballed it- a couple big pinches of the basil/oregano a small pinch of chili flakes)

Add sausage meat (removed from casing for easier breaking up) & cook until meat is cooked through all the way.

Scatter pasta over meat but do not stir. Pour diced tomatoes with juices and tomato sauce over pasta. Cover and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Dot with heaping tablespoons ricotta, cover, and let stand off heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil Parmesan.

serve with a big yummy salad like THIS ONE