Pour the tomatoes and their juice into a quart-size measuring cup. Add enough water to bring the amount to 4 cups.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and continue cooking until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the ground beef and use a wooden spoon to break it into small pieces. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Evenly sprinkle the noodles over the meat (or just break them right over like I did if you forgot to break them up before starting). Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Continue simmering for about 20 minutes, until the pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. If the sauce looks dry after 15 minutes of cooking, add up to ¼ cup additional water.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper and additional red pepper flakes, to taste. Drop heaping spoonfuls of ricotta over the mixture. Cover and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes to warm the ricotta.

Sprinkle with fresh basil and additional Parmesan, if desired.