Mmmm. Little pillows of ricotta cheese (no not mashed potatoes!) on top of whole grain pasta, sauce, pepper jack cheese, beef - what's not to like? That's what I thought when I was browsing through Stacy's blog Every Little Thing and saw her "wing it" recipe for baked pasta. She was in the midst of an exercise to eat on $60/week and threw this together based on what she had on hand. Perfect-I do that a lot too, probably why I was drawn to this recipe. It's Secret Recipe Club time!
Stacy is a Social Worker who lives in Missouri and specializes in the areas of autism and developmental disabilities. She has adapted a local, natural lifestyle and hopes to help others become closer to their community and our Earth. Here's Stacy's recipe, with a few adaptations:
Yield: 6 servings
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp ancho pepper powder
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 8 oz. multi grain rotini pasta, cooked al dente
- 2 oz. pepper jack cheese, grated
- 12 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
- 12 oz. marinara sauce
- Salt and pepper
- Cooking spray
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown the beef and onions together.
- Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Combine the beef/onion mixture with the other ingredients except ricotta in the casserole dish.
- Drop 6 dollops of ricotta on the top of the mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Serve with sprinkle of salt and pepper.
So simple and just the right level of heat for me. If you like things really spicy, add more ancho pepper powder. This keeps well and reheats like a dream. Check out Stacy's blog when you have a chance! To see the other Secret Recipe Club participants, check out all the links below.
