Creamy Baked Beefaroni (Light)

Redsie's Note:

Made this for supper tonight - delicious, creamy and cheesy! Mmmmmm! And it's a light recipe! Yes! This is an adapted version from a R. Reisman recipe

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 lb penne

MEAT SAUCE

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 12 ounces lean ground beef
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 ¾ cups pasta sauce
• ½ cup chicken stock

CHEESE SAUCE

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 2% low-fat milk
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

TOPPING

• ½ cup shredded lowfat mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F Spray a 13x9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook penne for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender but firm. Drain.
3. To make meat sauce: In a nonstick saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onions and garlic for 4 minutes or until softened. Stir in beef; cook, stirring to break up meat, for 4 minutes, or until no longer pink. Stir in tomato sauce and stock. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until thickened. Set aside.
4. To make cheese sauce: In a nonstick saucepan, whisk together flour, milk, and stock until flour dissolves. Place over medium heat; simmer until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in Cheddar. Remove from heat. Stir cheese sauce into meat sauce.
5. Toss pasta with sauce. Pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan.
6. Bake in centre of oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly.

Reviews

[Kim~In~Canada]

We all really loved this. It reheated well too. It made a ton, so it was great. Thanks.

[ColCadsMom]

This is DELICIOUS! I really thought it would take quite long to make, but it actually took much less time than I thought it would. The cheese sauce is very tasty, and the entire family enjoyed it. Next time I will add extra seasonings for our own preference. Breezytoo sent some Halloween pasta that was shaped like jackolanterns, black cats, and bats, and witches. The sauce was a gorgeous orange color and the pasta was perfect for an early Halloween treat for the kids. I used 96% lean ground beef, and I felt great feeding a healthy dish to my family. Thanks for a great pasta dish!

[LARavenscroft]

I originally picked this for a tag game and then realized I had made the wrong tag, but decided to make this anyway. All I can say is yummy :yummy: I was a little leary about mixing pasta sauce with cheese sauce, but the flavor is fantastic. It makes a lot and I can see that I'll be using this quite often when we have company because it easy and economical! It's also a great make ahead dish as I made it one day and put it in the oven the next day before dinner and served it with a salad and presto dinner was done! Thanks Redsie for posting this!