A bed of simple egg noodles with a light olive oil and tomato sauce, topped with ground beef and rice fried with basil and egg, and crowned with breaded, oven-fried eggplant sticks, and dusted with a light sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Considering I initially wanted to make grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup for dinner, because I didn’t feel like either eating or cooking, this meal ended up taking a whole lot of time and work. I had three burners and the oven going at the same time, and I was in the kitchen for about two hours.

It was entirely worth it, and yes … you do wish you had dinner at Casa de Orb tonight. This idea was a winner!

I’ll try to make this into something resembling a recipe and post it. Works fine with or without meat, and it’s stick-to-the-ribs filling either way. I wish there were leftovers!