Baked Pasta Casserole

By maxsmama

Calories: 267.0
Total Fat: 6.6 g
Cholesterol: 30.0 mg
Sodium: 446.0 mg
Total Carbs: 37.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.7 g
Protein: 17.4 g

Ingredients

• Optional (not included in nutritional calculations):
• 1 box - Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
• 1 jar *Spaghetti Sauce, (approx. 3 cups)
• 14 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 lb extra lean Ground Beef browned and well drained
• 1 diced onion
• 1/2 cup low fat Shredded Cheese
• Additional veggies - zuchinni, eggplant, carrot, fresh tomato
• Low fat or fat free cottage cheese

Details

Servings 10

Preparation

Step 1

1. Begin to heat water to a boil for pasta. Add pasta and cook according to package directions while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Brown and crumble ground beef with diced onion. Drain well and rinse if desired.
3. Add jar of spaghetti sauce (lite/lowfat/healthy versions will lower calories, but this recipe calculates based on regular Bertolli Tomatoe & Basil sauce) and a can of diced tomatoes to the ground beef and simmer while the pasta cooks or however long you wish to simmer.
4. When pasta is cooked, drain well. Combine pasta and sauce in casserole dish or dishes. Toss to mix well.
5. If desired, add spoonfuls of low-fat or fat free cottage cheese and fold in to mix slightly.
6. Top with low fat shredded cheese. Bake in hot oven (400f or whatever temperature you are using to bake other menu items is fine) till cheese melts and begins to brown slightly.

* You may wish to sautee small diced veggies such as zuchinni or eggplant with the meat. You can add a shredded carrot if desired. Using ground turkey, chicken or a veggie meat substitute may lower the fat/calories. If preparing casseroles to freeze, you may wish to add extra tomatoes or sauce because while this freezes and reheats WONDERFULLY it does seem a bit dry if you don't add extra.