It was a pretty cool day today, so I decided to make a baked dish for dinner. Baked pasta has always been a fairly easy choice for me. You prepare the meat and noodles, add everything together with the rest of the ingredients, bake, and voila! This delicious pasta dish goes great with bread (check out my focaccia recipe) or a nice side salad.
Ingredients:
3/4 lb. ground beef (or italian sausage)
1/2 lb. penne noodles
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup parmesan + romano cheese blend
1/3 cup mozzarella
Pasta sauce (any red, tomato-based sauce will do)
1/2 tsp italian herbs
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Basil to garnish (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place meat, along with onion and garlic in a saucepan over the stove. Let cook on low/medium heat until meat is browned and onion is tender. Cook pasta al dente.
Once the pasta and meat mixture have been cooked, combine them into one pan. Add the red pasta sauce to the pasta mixture. Add the italian herbs, salt, and pepper as well.
In an 8x8 baking dish, pour half of the pasta mixture. Sprinkle cheese over top. Pour the remaining pasta mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cheese has browned on top. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh basil if desired.
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