Ground Beef Spiral Bake

Hi girls. This is what we had last night. It's from Simple & Delicious jan/feb 2008. I liked it because you make 2 casseroles at once, then eat one and freeze the other one for later. Plus, the chick that sent it in spells her name with a "K" just like me. So I thought I would try it. And it was okay. I did put one in the freezer for later, so when we defrost and eat it I will amend this entry to say how it tasted after freezing and thawing.

Ground Beef Spiral Bake
1 pkg (16 oz) spiral pasta
2 lbs ground beef
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
2 jars (28 oz each) spaghetti sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to pkg directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, basil, and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes. Stir (drained) pasta into meat mixture. Transfer to two greased 9x13 baking dishes. Sprinkle each with 2 cups of cheese. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake the second casserole, uncovered, @ 350 for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. To use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

So this was okay. I wished we had had garlic bread to go with it. Instead, I had made banana bread yesterday in the afternoon, and Emma really wanted a piece with her supper. So Steve was like, let's just have it. So, as weird as it sounds, we had this with...banana bread. It was a different combination, to be sure. The pasta was good, but not great. Nothing to write home about anyway. Even though I just did. =)

Addendum: Tonight 4/28 we had the defrosted version of this casserole. It tasted pretty much like the original, even though I was under the impression that pasta wouldn't freeze and defrost well. I was wrong. So not a bad idea if you have stuff coming up, like a hip replacement or something, that you want to stockpile homemade food for.