Step up the average pasta bake game by incorporating a deliciously key ingredient.
Start by simplycooking your ground beefand adding some chopped eggplant by the end of it.
To coat your pasta evenly, opt for shortcut options, likepenne, rigatoni, or shells.
Credit: Jason Donnelly
These kinds of hollow pasta absorb the sauces better than, say, angel hair, for example.
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Add eggplant; cook until tender, stirring frequently.
Add ground beef, onion, and garlic to skillet.
Cook until meat is brown, using a wooden spoon to break up meat as it cooks.
Stir in eggplant, tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, salt, and crushed red pepper.
Spread mixture in a shallow baking pan to cool quickly.
Cook Pasta
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
Rinse with cold water; drain again.
Stir pasta into the meat mixture.
Assemble
Line a 2-quart baking dish or 8x8x1 3/4-inch square disposable foil pan.
Transfer the meat mixture and wrap the dish completely in foil.
Bake
Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake, uncovered, for about 5 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted.
Let it cool before freezing fit for up to 4 months.
To serve, remove the foil from the baking dish.
Lift frozen food out of the dish and remove plastic wrap; return food to the dish.
Cover with foil and thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Bake again, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until its heated completely.
2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
