You can make a simple, yet delicious pasta bake with only a few ingredients and not a lot of work. I'm terrible at using exact measurements, because I cook by taste and smell, so work with it and understand some of the seasonings are estimated.
You will need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 can Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs
1 32 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced rotel tomatoes
1 box of whole wheat penne pasta
1 8 oz bag of Mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese (Kraft container or recommend the wedge and grate it yourself).
1 tblspn minced garlic (fresh garlic is always best, but it's a little more work)
1 tblspn Oregano
1 tblspn Basil
1 tblspn Parsley
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add tomato sauce, rotel tomatoes to a pot and set temp to medium-high heat.
- Add Garlic, Basil, Parsley Oregano, salt and crushed red pepper to the tomato sauce and stir well.
- Bring this to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- While this is boiling, start your noodles boiling. Make sure you don't overcook the noodles. You still want them a little firm, not mushy.
- Brown your ground beef with a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce.
- When the noodles are done, spread them out evenly across the bottom of a medium sized casserole dish.
- Add the ground beef, spread evenly over the noodles.
- Add half the tomato sauce to the casserole dish next.
- Add a layer of mozzarella cheese to cover the noodles and sauce.
- Cover the cheese with the bread crumbs.
- Add the rest of the sauce (pour gently).
- Cover with more mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs to top.
- Place in oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven and add a layer of Parmesan cheese to the top and put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
Serve with a nice leafy salad with a mix of lettuce (iceberg is for losers) or raw spinach with a nice Balsamic vinaigrette (don't add too much of the vinaigrette!) and a little garlic bread will top this off nicely. Add a couple of kalamata olives to the side for a nice touch.