Easy Penne Pasta Bake

Some comfort food for a rainy day: This Penne Pasta Bake has all that lasagna flavor, but with just a fraction of the effort!

It cooled off quite a bit this weekend in Chicago, so I started poking around my fridge and cabinets for comfort food ideas and came up with this Penne Pasta Bake, an almost (but not really) lasagna dinner! This easy pasta bake recipe was a nice change from a regular pasta-and-sauce dinner, and a definite hit with all the boys in this house.

A while ago I’d picked up various cheeses at ALDI with the idea of making a lasagna some day — and this yummy Priano mozzarella has been on sale there for just $1.99 for a few weeks now. I never actually made that lasagna, but luckily spotted this box of penne and jarred pasta sauce in my cupboard (hey, also from ALDI, lol)… so instead decided to scratch up a cheater penne pasta bake in this June 25, 2017 edition of Sunday Scratchups: Your weekly recipe from scratch around sale items or affordable ingredients.

If you’re looking for a simple baked pasta recipe, this one took a little over an hour start to finish (including oven baking time). Here’s how I did it.

Penne Pasta Bake

Ingredients

16 oz box penne pasta
1.5-2 lbs ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1.5 Tbsp minced garlic
24 oz jar prepared marinara sauce
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
15 oz tub ricotta
1 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
1.5 tsp parsley
8 oz sliced or shredded mozzarella

Directions

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, drain, and reserve.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat in large skillet, breaking up as needed, then drain and return to skillet. Stir in marinara, basil, oregano, and red pepper, then simmer meaty sauce mixture for 20 minutes on medium-low, stirring occasionally.

While beef and sauce are simmering, mix ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley in a large bowl until just combined. Add cooked pasta and stir gently until pasta is coated with cheese mixture.

Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread your pasta/cheese mixture into the prepared baking dish, spread the beef/sauce mixture evenly over the top, then top with mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbling.

Let your pasta bake rest for a few minutes before slicing, and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

This easy pasta bake is kind of like lasagna… but it’s not!

I don’t often use jarred pasta sauce any more, but this was juuuust fine when doctored up for our cheater not-lasagna purposes today. Penne Pasta Bake is a simple comfort food cool weather recipe with a lot of the flavor of lasagna, but it lacks the same layered texture (and of course falls apart more easily when you serve it). And, it’s pretty darn good in a cheese filled comfort food kind of way.

This hearty penne pasta bake recipe should serve eight, and reheats  quite well. It should also freeze well if you want to pop some individual servings into your freezer for later.

Penne Pasta Bake, printable recipe

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5 from 3 votes

Penne Pasta Bake

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Penne Pasta Bake has a lot of the flavor of lasagna, but lacks the same layered texture (and of course falls apart more easily when you serve it). And, it's pretty darn good in a cheese filled comfort food kind of way!

Course dinner

Keyword ground beef, mozzarella, pasta

Servings 8

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 16 oz box penne pasta
• 1.5-2 lbs ground beef
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1.5 Tbsp minced garlic
• 24 oz jar prepared marinara sauce
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 15 oz tub ricotta
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
• 1.5 tsp parsley
• 8 oz sliced or shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, drain, and reserve.
• Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat in large skillet, breaking up as needed, then drain and return to skillet. Stir in marinara, basil, oregano, and red pepper, then simmer meaty sauce mixture for 20 minutes on medium-low, stirring occasionally.
• While beef and sauce are simmering, mix ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley in a large bowl until just combined. Add cooked pasta and stir gently until pasta is coated with cheese mixture.
• Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread your pasta/cheese mixture into the prepared baking dish, spread the beef/sauce mixture evenly over the top, then top with mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbling.
• Let your pasta bake rest for a few minutes before slicing, and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Notes

This hearty penne pasta bake recipe should serve eight, and reheats well -- it should also freeze well if you want to pop some individual servings into your freezer for later.

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