Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I have named this creation "pasta bake". See pasta bake should have never been born. Pasta bake was supposed to be beef enchiladas prepared lovingly for my husband who had been gone hunting for almost a week. However, somewhere between Birmingham and Atlanta dear husband decided that enchiladas were gross and he could not stand them. Sigh. So I needed to figure out what to do with my 3/4 of a lb of beef and little else in the fridge/pantry (besides enchilada sauce and tortillas). There was an onion, some different pasta shapes, a can of crushed tomatoes, and a small handful of mozzarella cheese. Something Italian was brewing, but what? I had hoped to make lasagna which is a husband favorite, but I had no noodle sheets and no ricotta. So I made pasta bake. The beef and onion was cooked with some of the crushed tomato and reduced down into a tomato-y beef filling. To get that creamy element I was looking for I went for a simple white sauce which is actually what you'll find in many traditional lasagnas. Now this pasta bake may not look like too much in the pan, but let me tell you it was delish! And a certain picky husband ate it up. Crisis averted.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 - 1 lb ground beef (sirloin)

1 small, sweet onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

Italian seasoning - fresh basil and parsley would be great - I used my McCormick's grinder

1/2 cup crushed tomato from the can - try to use low sodium or unseasoned, organic is good

pasta shells

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk - i used 2%, but by all means use whatever you have

mozzarella cheese - enough to top the 8x8 baking dish

pre heat oven to 350 degrees

1. Get your pasta going

2. heat the oil in a big pan over med high

3. saute onion until golden

4. add in beef and garlic and cook until beef is no longer pink

5. season with herbs/spice grinder + salt and pepper to taste

6. add in tomato and let cook down - you want the mixture to reduce and thicken, not be soupy

7. make your white sauce by heating butter and flour to make a roux, once pasty smell goes away whisk in milk and let bubble up and thicken, season with salt and pepper, if you have some grated parm cheese throw a couple tablespoons of that in too.

8. fill your shells with meat mixture and lay in 8x8 dish

9. pour white sauce over shells and top with mozzarella

10. bake at 350 for about 30 min until sauce is bubbly and top is golden