Pasta Casserole

Pasta Casserole

We all have those busy days where we are wondering what's fast and easy for dinner. One of those days at my house, I just put together a quick and easy Pasta Casserole. What's so great about this is, you can work with what you have on hand. You can use different noodles, your favorite seasonings, meats, etc.. You can also make this casserole up ahead of time, put into our 3-3/4 qt. lg. deep Vent-N-Serve and put this in the freezer and take out on one of those busy days. Just make a veggie and a salad to go with it.. and dinner is done!

Make this recipe your own!
Enjoy

Patty

What we'll need:

 This is what I had on hand the day I made mine.
1 lb pk. Italian Sauage
1 lb. ground chuck
1 lb box pasta noodles
1 bag cheese
tomato paste
garlic - peeled & chopped
1 lg can crushed tomatoes
Tupperware Italian Seasoning Blend
Red Bell Peppers

Tupp products used
Pasat Maker - used to cook pasta
You can see my pasta stored in the #3 Super Oval, it's holding a 1 lb box and still has room for more.
And I cooked it in the Ven-N-serve 3-3/4 qt.

 
Step 2 - Here I added a little oil to my pan and sauteed the garlic and red bell peppers until they just become tender.

  
Step 3 - I added in all my meats and cooked until brown. Then I added in about 2 TBL of Tomato Paste, stirred that in along with my seasonings.

  
Step 4- I added in the crushed tomatoes and just a dash of sugar and tasted for salt.

 Step 5- Here I have the 1 lb. package of the pasta shells in the Tupperware Pasta Maker. I cooked this while the meat mixture was simmering to blend the flavors. I cooked the pasta in the microwave for about 10 min. This gave me a little clean up time.

 Step 6- Here you can see the past all cooked. I drained off just a bit of the water.

 Step 7 - I keep some of the pasta water because it will help loosen the sauce but keep it thick at the same time. I placed the noodles into a bowl.

Step 8 - I added in my sauce, added some of the pasta water as needed. I checked the seasonings and added a bit more.

 Step 9 - Here I put half of the mixture into the 3-3/4 qt. Vent-N-Serve. and then added some cheese, the poured the remainder in and topped with cheese. I put the lid on, pulled up the little vent and cooked for 8 min to heat all the way through and melt the cheese 

(At this point, you can put the lid on and place in the freezer for another day.)

 And the finished product! This is enough to feed at least 6 people.