Penne Mozzarella Bake

Hi There – well, here’s another recipe from the woman who’s in the running for The World’s Worst Procrastinator! I’ve recently been thinking, “Maybe I’ll put these recipes out there – and no one’s gonna ever see them”. Then, I noticed that almost 100 people have “checked out” my little recipe blog so far….even though I have, at this point, so few recipes. If that’s not a motivating factor, then I don’t know what is!!  I’m sending out a great, big THANKS to my first 100 visitors! And I promise, there’ll be lots and lots of delicious recipes “comin’ at ya” from My Yellow Farmhouse!

I made up this recipe recently – and – I gotta say – it’s damn good!! Perhaps it’s the additional depth of flavor due to adding some red wine, and simmering everything together for a bit before assembling and baking this Penne Mozzarella Bake.

Oven at 350 F     Serves 6

• smaller-sized Penne (macaroni) – measure 3 cups, then cook  “al dente”
• 1 lb. ground beef – 80% lean
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper – or mixture of red & green
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt with parsley
• black pepper to taste – about 1/4 tsp.
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan – divided in two – 1/4 cup portions
• 7 oz. container of sliced fresh mozzarella, drained

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Remove beef from skillet, taking out most of the fat, but not all. Add the chopped onion and pepper to the skillet; cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes. Return beef to skillet. Simmer with the chopped onions and peppers for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add spaghetti sauce, spices and red wine.  Lower heat, cover skillet, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If you don’t have a big lid, cover with foil.)

Add the cooked Penne to the simmered spaghetti sauce mixture. (If there’s not enough room in the skillet, mix Penne and sauce mixture in a large bowl.)

Place half the Penne/sauce mixture in a 2-quart casserole. Then, in a single layer, place the drained mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Cover this layer with the rest of the Penne/sauce mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 F – uncovered – for 30 minutes. Pour yourself a nice glass of the red wine left-over from making the sauce – and ENJOY!!