Penne Pasta Casserole

Happy birthday to me Today I am the big 2-6. This past year has FLOWN! It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating my quarter-of-a-century. Nathan is in Florida for work. He left last night, but thankfully he’ll be back tonight just in time for a late birthday dinner.

We spent Friday in Alabama hiking the Little River Canyon. The weather was absolutely amazing at 70 degrees and just a little breeze. I had a great time, and I was surprised at how much energy I had at almost 26 weeks pregnant! I had no problem hiking and climbing over the rocks. It was a great workout.

Yesterday before Nathan left we did a little more hiking, and I made scones for breakfast {recipe to come later}. I’ve been in a hiking mood with the weather getting much better. It is a nice change from my usual daily walks.

Anyway, this pasta dish is a great easy dinner that guarantees leftovers {assuming there are just 2 people eating it}. I have been testing a few recipes that I plan on freezing once we get closer to Samuel’s arrival. That way we’ll have dinners ready to go for when our parents get here to meet him. It will also {hopefully} keep me out of the kitchen for at least the first week. We’ll see though, because cooking is my relaxation time.

Penne Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 small onion
Parmesan cheese
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 tbs red pepper flakes
1 tbs olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the pasta according to the box.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high. After about 2 minutes, add the ground turkey. Cover with lid, and turn the heat down to medium.
Meanwhile, dice onion. Once the meat is mostly brown add the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Mix and cover with lid again.
After about 5 minutes, mix tomato paste and diced tomatoes to meat mixture. Coat the meat completely. Cover with lid and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain the pasta and put back in the large pot. Coat a glass casserole dish with olive oil spray.
Mix the meat mixture and the pasta in the large pot.
Put half of the pasta mixture into the glass casserole dish. Cover with half of the cheddar cheese and some Parmesan cheese. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
Serve!

Grade: B

Comments: This was pretty good. It isn’t anything fancy, but it makes a solid meal. It was incredibly quick and easy which is always a plus when I’m exhausted. It will definitely freeze nicely. If I had thought about it I would have added some zucchini and probably some green peppers as well. There is room to play with this recipe and make it more vegetable heavy than I did.