Baked Penne With Ground Beef And Tomato Sauce

Of course you can use your favorite bottled pasta sauce of your choice to make this recipe, but it is really the sauce that makes this (do not omit the green bell pepper, i also add in a jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped but that is optional) to save some time and to allow the flavors to blend i strongly suggest to prepare the sauce 1-2 days in advance and refrigerate, this sauce freezes well for up to 3 months. Do not over cook the pasta as it will cook even more in the oven...you will *love* this!!

Steps

For the sauce.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat.

Add in onion , bell pepper , oregano , basil and chili flakes saut for about 5 minutes.

Add in the tomato paste and stir for about 1 minute.

Add in all remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for about 1-1 / 2 hours.

Season with salt and pepper then remove the bay leaf.

At this point you can cool then refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a medium casserole dish.

In a large skillet cook the ground beef until well browned , breaking up with a spoon until crumbled.

Drain fat.

To the skillet add in about 5 cups prepared tomato sauce cook for about 15-20 minutes on medium-low heat.

Remove from heat and add in 1-1 / 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Stir with wooden spoon to combine.

Add in the cooked penne pasta.

Toss to combine with sauce and cheese.

Transfer to baking dish.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese then about 1 / 2 c.

Ingredients

ground beef, cooked penne, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, olive oil, onion, green bell pepper, oregano, dried basil, dried chili pepper flakes, fresh garlic, tomato paste, dry red wine, plum tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, salt and black pepper