Stovetop Beef and Penne Casserole

I almost didn't make this one out of the Back of the Box Cookbook.  Part of me just wanted to see if I could get away with it.  And part of me thought it sounded good and healthy.  So I made it, but I was very sneaky about it.  When the secret ingredient was added, I waited for just the right moment to be alone in the kitchen.  To look at it, you couldn't tell what it contained.  Only I knew.  How was it received?  Read on...

Stovetop Beef and Penne Casserole
2 cups (8oz) dry penne pasta
2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 1 lb beef and 1 lb ground turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (and there it is...nobody here likes pumpkin ANYTHING...in general)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.  Cook beef and onions over medium-high heat in large (LARGE) skillet or Dutch oven until beef is no longer pink; drain.  Reduce heat to medium.  Stir in milk, pumpkin (here's where I waited for no witnesses), tomato sauce, brown sugar, paprika, worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to simmer.  Add pasta and peas and heat through.  Spoon half into a casserole dish and freeze for another meal.  Serve remaining half. 

Amazingly, shockingly, everyone liked this!  I was so uncertain.  I don't even know if I liked it all that well.  But Nathan loved it.  And Steve said it had a great flavor, and that he could really taste the ground turkey.  After the meal, when no children were around, I did confess to him the secret ingredient, and then he speculated that maybe that is what the taste difference was rather than the turkey.  But he said he didn't care because it is the taste of pumpkin he dislikes and you couldn't taste the pumpkin.  This looked like a regular Italian dish, I think because of the tomato sauce and the paprika lending it's color.  Anyway this was a surprise hit.  A dark horse.  And the best part is, they still don't know.  They will most likely eat the leftovers and love them, too.  I am pretty happy.  I feel like a secret agent cook.