Italian Pasta Bake
I love to make this pasta bake whenever I need to bring a dish to pass. Fresh tomatoes add a nice touch that's missing from most other meat, pasta and tomato casseroles.—Karla Johnson, East Helena, Montana
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jar (24 ounces) spaghetti sauce
- 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 cups uncooked medium pasta shells
- 3 plum tomatoes, sliced
- 3/4 cup shredded provolone cheese
- 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Reviews
A little bland. Next time I will use Italian sausage and leave out the tomatoes.
One change, drain the fat off the beef after most has been rendered.
This is one of my family's favorite recipes. I always make it with Italian sausage and I leave off the tomatoes on top because my kids don't like them, but otherwise follow the recipe as written. Be sure not to boil your pasta too much or it will be too mushy after baking. Always delicious.
Made with 1 lb. ground beef and 1 lb. mild Italian sausage. Only other change was about 1/2 extra cup of cheese on the bake to use up a package. Whole family loved it! Will definitely make this recipe again.
Only change I made was only boiling the pasta for a few minutes. Boiling the pasta, then baking, made it mushy. The texture was not pleasant. Boil the pasta for half the recommended time, then mix it in and bake. Turns out much better!
I used 1 # of 93% ground beef and 1 # Italian sausage Drain both meats.. Added small package of turkey pepperoni before baking. Very good!
Good flavor but greasy. I used 85/15 ground beef so that may have been the reason.
Very flavorful and easy to make. Makes 2 casseroles, making it easy to freeze one and save for later. I thought I had penne pasta, but didn't, so I ended up using medium shell pasta and it was still great!