This was always one of my favorite things my mom would make growing up. I now make it for my girls and it's still a win. It's easy to put together when you walk in the door at 5 o'clock or the night before.
Servings: 6 Cook time: 45 mins (15 minutes active)
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, browned
½ package of elbow macaroni noodles
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 can of diced tomatoes, not drained
1 package of mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Brown ground beef in a skillet until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Drain off access fat. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the elbow macaroni 2 minutes under what the package directions say. (It will finish cooking in the oven).
3. In a big bowl, stir together soups, tomatoes and seasonings. Add the ground beef, noodles and half of the mozzarella.
4. Pour into a casserole dish and top with a little more mozzarella. Cook covered with foil for 25 minutes in a 350° oven. Remove foil and cook another 10 minutes.
Bump up the nutrition! To most pasta dishes, I throw a few handfuls of spinach in the food processor and let it go until it's finely chopped. I add it to the giant mixing bowl in step 3. My girls usually don't even realize I added spinach to their food :)
Come to think of it....I bet kale would be really good in this dish as well.
