Two Cheese Baked Macaroni

I love making big batches of marinara sauce and freezing some for easy weekday dishes. I took out 2 cups of sauce from the freezer and added it to some cooked ground beef, combined that with leftover Ricotta cheese and the recipe came together in the time it took to boil the macaroni and it’s tasty and satisfying….and cheesy.

Ingredients:

• ½ pound macaroni pasta (I use Delverde brand)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef, I use 20% fat
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 cups Easy Marinara Sauce (or other marinara sauce)
• ½ cup Ricotta cheese
• I cup grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook pasta 1 minute short of the directions state on the packaging.
3. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the beef, the salt and the pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and add the sauce. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the cooked pasta and the Ricotta to the sauce and gently toss to combine. Place the pasta in a baking dish, top with the Mozzarella and cook for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Makes 2 generous entrée-size servings.