Ground Beef & Spinach Pasta Bake

Updated: 7 hours ago

Your Next Homemade Pasta Home Run Difficulty: ★★★★★ Required Patience: ★★★★★

The taste is 1 part spinach lasagna, 1 part OMGoulash and 2 parts give me more of that! Best of all, this dish can easily be turned into your next favorite "cheat meal!" Only you're not cheating when using a new carb-friendly pasta that tastes just like the real thing.

Time To Prepare:

About 1 hour

Foodie Tips:

I'm currently following a lower-carb diet, so eating pasta had typically been nonexistent. In walked Pete's Pasta! Made in Italy, Pete's isn't one of those mushy pastas you may find soaking in bags of liquid. It looks and tastes so remarkably like the real thing that you won't even mind being on a low-carb diet! For this dish, I used elbows, and Pete's also has penne and rotini options that would work well in this dish. Pasta with just 7 grams per 2-ounce serving will yield more than you might expect once cooked.
You can omit the protein or substitute the beef with Italian sausage or cubed or shredded chicken.

Ingredients:

8 Ounces | Your Favorite Pasta, Cooked And Drained (See Foodie Tip Above) 2 Teaspoons | Olive Oil 1 | Yellow Onion, Chopped 1 Pound | Ground Beef (Or Sausage or Chicken)

1 Cup | Italian Blend Three Cheese (Parmesan, Asiago, Romano)

2 Cups More | Mozzarella Cheese, Freshly Shredded

What To Do: 1. In a medium/large pot filled with water, bring your water to a boil over high heat. (While the water is coming to a boil, you can start step 2 below to get a jump on things.) Prepare/boil your pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions. If using Pete's Pasta, I cooked it about 10 minutes for a good al dente (to the tooth) bite, as the pasta will cook a bit more in the oven. Drain the pasta and set it aside.

2. Add the oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat for a minute. Add and sauté the onion. Add the ground beef (or sausage or chicken) and cook until it's browned.

3. Add the tomatoes, garlic powder, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add the fresh spinach. If it's too much for your skillet, add it in batches. As it wilts down, add more until it's all introduced. Cook just until all the spinach has wilted.

4. Preheat your oven to 350°F. 5. Combine the pasta and the meat sauce and the first 2 cups of mozzarella and place in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

6. Top with the Italian Three Cheese Blend and remaining 2 cups mozzarella and bake about 20 minutes or until the cheese is a golden brown. 7. About 3-4 minutes before everything's done, raise the temperature to broil to create a remarkable topping (shown) that will elevate this dish from amazing to Momma Mia memorable! Watch carefully during this step so you don't burn the top of your dish as broiling goes fast and furious!