Italian Delight

One dish, kid lovin' ground beef, pasta, tomato casserole. This dish is tasty, easy to prepare with a minimum of effort, inexpensive and my 39 year son still requests it for dinner. He's getting married and I'm giving his fiance' a copy of the recipe. Maybe 25 years ago I was home from surgery and my bible study group brought dinners and this was one of them. It was #1 and I got the recipe. It's been a family favorite since.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  lb lean ground beef
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (10 3/4ounce) can  tomato soup (do not dilute)
• 1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, save juice to add later to casserole as it simmers
• 8  ounces pasta, such as macaroni, flat noodles, tube, sea shell, etc

• These are the seasonings I happen to use

• 3  tablespoons  dried onion
• 2  teaspoons onion powder
• 2  teaspoons garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon oregano
• 1⁄8 teaspoon chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin

Directions

1. Brown ground beef in a large frying pan and drain well. Place back in pan, then all the ingredients, except the noodles. Mix well, cover and simmer.
2. While preparing the above, cook the noodles al dente, drain well and add to the meat mixture. Save the noodle water as you will need to add liquid to the casserole as it cooks down, but use the saved diced tomato juice first. I add garlic powder to the noodle water, while cooking, to flavor the water.
3. Add noodles.
4. Cook on low-to-simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Check often and stir. Add tomato juice/noodle liquid, as needed. It can get too thick.