My daughter and I were walking in the West Village after seeing “Back from the Vatican,” a funny, fantastic show. It was our third night in NYC, and we still hadn’t had Italian so the striped awnings of Little Italy beckoned. We found a buzzy spot, snagged two seats at the bar and settled into the menu. Spaghetti Vongole caught my eye.

The easy and oh so delicious spin on traditional Italian lasagna. Let’s prepare this lasagna and bake ahead of the menu day.