January 18, 2010 | Meat & Poultry, One Dish Meals, Pasta & Pizza
I’m often jealous of the food bloggers I follow who cook and blog jointly with their spouse. It’s a shared passion – the cooking, the search for the perfect recipe, the experimentation in the kitchen and behind the camera, and the opportunity to share one’s food as well as thoughts about food through blogging. For me, it’s a solo act, as my husband has no interest in cooking or blogging, and honestly not that much interest in food. He’s the type that just eats because he’s hungry, doesn’t gorge himself because it’s delicious and he can’t stop – must be those years of wrestling and cutting weight.
Well it happens he does have one – yes, only one – specialty dish that he cooks and actually I think craves to some extent. Maybe it’s a throwback to his Long Island upbringing with so many Italian friends around, or perhaps there was something like this his mom used to make. Who knows, but today I give you Greg’s Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce.
Now don’t get too excited – unless you’re itching for an easy, semi-homemade dish that pleases men and kids alike. In that case, start jumping up and down and get out your shopping list! It’s so simple I can’t really even give you a step by step, so without further musing, the recipe:
Greg’s Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce
Serves 81 pound large, but short pasta (think rigatoni or medium shells)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 jar of Classico Roasted Tomato and Garlic Sauce (he’s picky about this)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or more to taste – he uses alot of oregano)
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheeseCook and drain the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, brown the beef and sausage together in a large skillet, then stir in the sauce. Layer 1/2 of the cooked pasta in the bottom of a 9 x 11 baking dish. Top with 1/2 of the meat sauce and a sprinkling of oregano, then 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with pasta, sauce, oregano, cheese. Bake at 375 just until cheese melts through, about 10-15 minutes. Note: when layering the sauce, leave some noodles exposed at the sides so they get a little crunchy when you bake it (see photo) – that’s Greg’s “secret” technique! If this were my recipe (and trust me it’s not) I would add some fresh basil, some Parimigiano, perhaps some ricotta, and I’d make my own sauce – but that’s just me.
Wow! He’s married to a cooking pro and he’s just an “eat to live, not live to eat” guy? Oh dear!
I adore easy pasta dishes like this one. Your pics are great!!!
Oregano is a gread addition to everyday meals, i put them on soups and salads.**.
i always use Oregano and other herbs on my soup and homecooked meals,-;
Thank you so much for this, very interesting. I’ve been looking all over for a certain pasta dish that my wife and I had on our very first date . I found a whole website with just pasta recipes (you might be interested) but no luck so far in finding the one! Damnit… I’m fairly certain it had seafood in it.. Any ideas?