Sylvie's Easy Peasy Pasta Bake for 2

Submitted by -Sylvie-

"This is one of those meals that I usually quickly throw together without a recipe, but last night I wrote everything down so that I could share it. It is very flexible and you can leave out or add vegetables, it also works well with any other ground meat."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb ground beef
• 1⁄2 onion, chopped
• 1⁄2 small zucchini, cubed
• 1⁄2 bell pepper, colour of you choice or mix of colours,chopped
• 4 -6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1⁄2 - 2 cups pasta, shapes cooked and drained,i usually use penne or 1 1/2-2 cups rigatoni pasta
• 3⁄4 cup chopped stewed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons milk or 2 tablespoons cream
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon granules
• 1⁄2 - 1 cup cheese, grated,i usually use cheddar or 1/2-1 cup gouda cheese
• salt, to taste
• pepper, freshly ground,to taste

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6.
2. Heat a little oil in a n a frying pan and fry onions and ground beef, till beef is browned well.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add all the chopped vegetables, stewed tomatoes, ketchup, milk, oregano and vegetable stock granules (if you have stock cubes, just sprinkle 1/2 a cube over the top).
5. Stir and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Add the pasta and mix well.
7. Transfer to an oven dish and top with grated cheese.
8. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown, approx 15 minutes.
9. This will serve two as a main course or four as a side dish.

Reviews

[Jeff 631750]

This recipe nearly perfectly captures the spirit of raiding a pantry to make a family-pleaser with minimal fuss. I didn't have the mushrooms so I 'improvised 'em out'. My only nit is it seems silly to brown that much beef in oil, but otherwise I prepared as prescribed and indeed produced a dish nearly as enjoyable as a ritualized lasagna for a fraction of the fuss Selecting oregano to stand out and belie this dish's budget roots is a good call.

 

[Nurse Morgan]

This dish scored an 8 out of 10 on the picky-husband-o-meter (and that's pretty good!). I used lean ground turkey instead of beef to cut calories, and rigatoni pasta. I didn't have bell peppers or zucchini on hand but it still came out yummy.