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Monday, July 5, 2010

Cheesy Pasta Bake

I am terrible about buying something & letting it go bad. I hate that! It is a waste of time & money. This time it happened to my poor eggplant. I was anxious to try my friend Jana's Eggplant Dirty Rice. Couldn't wait. And i had a perfect eggplant waiting. Doing theatre keeps me too busy to cook. But i was going to make sure i did it this weekend. This morning, i got out my eggplant & guess what? It was bad. Horribly bad. I was so upset! One day i'll learn! (Don't worry, Jana! I will be trying your recipe soon!)

So i went on a recipe search with ingredients we already had on hand. It was storming out & i was not going to Wal-Mart! It took forever, because everything called for something I didn't have. But i finally found this recipe at Picky Palate. Picky Palate has some AMAZING looking recipes, by the way! I can't wait to try more of them!!

This is my version of Jenny's Cheesy Stuffed Baked Ziti. I would have done her version, but again, I was only using what I already had on hand. Check out hers & try it! I'm willing to bet it's even more amazing!!But this one did turn out delicious!!

Warning: If you are on a diet, do not continue reading! Some of you are thinking, "Aren't YOU on a diet?" & the answer is NO. I'm not. I am on a journey to healthy living. I am not cutting out foods. This may not be the best choice for lunch, but hey - that's where portion control comes in. =)

 Picture from Jenny @ Picky Palate.

1 lb rotini pasta noodles
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 can (10.5 ounces) Cream of Celery
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1. Cook pasta noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Place olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion & garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Brown beef. Add cream of celery, reduce heat to low and stir in noodles.

3. Add feta & parmesan cheese, salt & pepper. Mix well. 

4. Place ½ pasta into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spoon mozzerella cheese evenly over pasta, covering entire dish. Pour remaining pasta over cheese, then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella & cheddar.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

8 servings

3 comments:

  1. Ooooo, that look's delish! I'll have to try this one out soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds yummo! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are my favorite.