How to Make Baked Pasta with Cheese
Baked cheese pasta is a great comfort food and a quick and easy meal to make. While cooking pasta in a pan or pot is also a good technique, there is something about hot and melted baked cheese pasta, fresh out of the oven, that makes it irresistible.
Prep time: 20 min
Bake time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour and 20 min
Yield: 12 servings
Utensils: 9×13 inch baking dish, skillet, mixing bowl, spoon, serving dish and plates.
Ingredients:
Uncooked pasta: 1 pound
Ground beef: 1 pound
Onion, chopped: 1
Tomato pasta sauce: 6 1/2 cups
Provolone cheese, thinly sliced: 6 ounces
Sour cream: 1 1/2 cups
Mozzarella cheese, shredded: 6 ounces
Grated parmesan cheese: 1/2 cup
Instructions
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1
Start by preparing your pasta. Place a large pot filled with lightly salted water on the stove and bring it to a rolling boil. Toss in your pasta, and cook it until it is al dente. Even if you prefer your pasta a bit softer, do not boil it further, as you will be baking it later.
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2
Use a colander to drain the pasta, and run it gently under cold water. Toss it a little to shake out any excess water, and then set this aside.
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3
Now, place a skillet on the stove on medium heat, and toss in the ground meat and onion, with a slight drizzle of olive oil. Cook this until the onions are softened and caramelised, and the meat has taken on a rich brown colour. Make sure you stir it frequently, to help all the meat brown evenly.
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4
Once the meat and onions are cooked, pour in the pasta sauce, bring the heat down to low, and simmer for around 15 minutes.
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5
While the sauce is simmering, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish by greasing it lightly. Once the sauce is done and the pasta is boiled, you are ready to begin assembling the dish.
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6
Start layering the ingredients in the baking dish in this particular order – first, layer in half the pasta, then all of the provolone cheese and all the sour cream, half the sauce, all the remaining pasta, all the mozzarella cheese, and all the remaining sauce. Top it all off with a generous sprinkling of half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
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7
Slide this into the oven, and bake it for around 30 minutes, or until the cheese becomes melted, and bubbly, and develops a pleasant light golden crust.
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