CHEESE AND PASTA IN A POT - DEE DEE'S

Cheese and Pasta in a Pot - Dee Dee's image

Provided by Diane Atherton @DeeDee2011

Categories Beef

Number Of Ingredients 12

Previous Next

2 pound(s) lean ground beef, or ground meat of your choice
- olive oil, extra virgin
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove(s) garlic, crushed
1 - 15-ounce jar of ragu or your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 pound(s) can stewed tomatoes
- salt and pepper, to taste
16 ounce(s) shell marcaroni, uncooked (in photo, i used farfalle and macaroni)
1 1/2 pint(s) sour cream (i have used a mixture of sour cream and cottage cheese)
1 - 1/2-pound pkg provolone cheese, shredded
1 - 1/2- pound pkg mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 - 3-ounce can sliced mushrooms, optional

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown meat in a little olive oil in a large skillet; drain off excess fat. NOTE: I also rinse the browned meat and drain to make sure I get most of excess fat removed.
Return meat to skillet; add onions, garlic, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper; mix well. Simmer 20 minutes until onions are tender.
Meanwhile, cook shell macaroni according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Place 1/2 of the pasta in a greased large deep casserole dish. Cover pasta with 1/2 of the meat sauce. Spread 1/2 of the sour cream over meat sauce; top with Provolone Cheese. Repeat next layer ending with Mozzarella Cheese.
Cover casserole; bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.
Remove cover; continue baking until Mozzarella Cheese melts and browns slightly.