Mostaccioli and Beef

If you don't know what mostaccioli is, it's like ziti without lines. And I had ziti in my cupboard, so that's what I made this with. This is from a cookbook I got a long time ago at a bridal shower, called Betty Crocker's New Choices Cookbook, subtitled More than 500 Great-Tasting Easy Recipes for Eating Right. Now this particular recipe doesn't seem like "eating right," exactly. I wanted to make it because it's a bit different than your typical pasta and sauce.

Mostaccioli and Beef
6 oz uncooked mostaccioli (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (I used my Pampered Chef garlic press)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan-romano cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package. Cook beef and onion until beef is brown; drain. Stir in oregano, salt, cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, tomato sauce, and garlic. Heat oven to 350. Alternate layers of pasta and hamburger mixture in ungreased 2-quart baking dish (I still sprayed it with Pam...why scrub that much extra if you don't have to?). Heat butter in small saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in flour and a dash of nutmeg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling (so I assume you return it to the burner at this point ha), stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour sauce evenly over mixture in casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until cheese is light brown.

So obviously this dish had a different flavor to it. The cinnamon and nutmeg made it taste quite odd. We all ate it, but with every bite, I was like "Hmmmmm." But okay for a change.