Easy Baked Rotini

Sometimes you just need pasta, yesterday was one of those days.  Baked pastas are always a crowd-pleaser, relatively easy to make, and taste amazing.  If you’ve never tried your hand at one, now is the time.  It’s a very simple concept: noodles, sauce, and cheese.  How you go about those three ingredients is what separates the good from the extraordinary.  For this particular dish I used rotini, mainly because I happened to have in the pantry.  You could easily do this with ziti, penne, or any other similar style of pasta.  The important thing is to make a sauce that you’re proud of, and the rest of the dish will follow.  This will serve at least 6.

Baked Rotini

16oz Rotini Pasta

8oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Sauce

6 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Pound Ground Beef

1 Cubanelle Pepper (or bell pepper), diced

1 Large Tomato, diced

1 Medium Onion, diced

16oz Tomato Sauce, plain or Spanish style

1/4 Cup Red Wine, not too dry

1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Dash Nutmeg, ground

2 Tsp Italian Herb Blend (oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage)

1 Tsp Agave Nectar (or ~Tbsp Sugar)

Sea Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Olive Oil

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil (med-low heat), add garlic, stir until fragrant, add onions, stir for 2 minutes, add peppers and tomatoes, allow to cook for about 5 min.  Meanwhile, in a separate skillet brown the ground beef (~5min), drain off excess fat, and add beef to the sauce pan.  Add tomato sauce, seasonings, wine, and agave nectar, allow to simmer while cooking the pasta in a separate pot.  When the pasta is al dente (~7-8 min), drain and put into a large casserole dish, cover with sauce, top with cheese, and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven @450F.  Enjoy.

Ingredients prepared

Onions and Garlic

Tomatoes and peppers added

Browning the beef

Beef added to saucepan

In goes the wine!

In goes the herbs

Drain the pasta

Sauce is ready

Pasta goes in the pan

Cover the pasta with sauce

Cover with cheese

Baked perfection

The bird looks hungry