Beefy Pasta Casserole

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. Yep, I said “pasta.”  A “p” word.  Like potatoes. Another “p” word.

On one of our 2nd Tuesday Calls with dieters from all over the world, a question came up from a woman in Iowa. She wanted to know what us Midwesterners should do about casseroles. My first answer was cook the pasta or noodles separately and serve them separately so you can eat fewer noodles.

I never quit thinking about that though. I know she wasn’t totally satisfied with my answer. Last night I came up with this dish for those Midwestern casserole parties.

Frankly, when I ate it I realized I would have been happy with HALF as much pasta as I used. I didn’t think it looked like a lot when I spread it in the casserole dish but when I was eating it I realized I could have gotten away with less.

This dish is made with Dreamfields pasta. Get it if you can. Order it online if you have to. This stuff tastes like regular pasta. Most low carb pasta tastes like the cardboard box it came in. This does not. This is good. I can’t tell the difference anymore! Look for the black box on store shelves.

This whole recipe contains about 80 grams of carbohydrate from the pasta. Now 80 grams is about as much as any human needs in an entire day. But you’re not going to eat the whole casserole, are you? This casserole serves 6 – 8. Make a big, beautiful Caesar salad to go with it.

So each serving is about 8 grams of carbs. That’s reasonable. Very reasonable. And because this is a low glycemic pasta, it makes it even better. Try it. I think you will convert like I did.

Pasta doesn’t have to be banned from ZLife. You just need to limit it and monitor how you use it. If you keep in mind that a FULL portion is a half cup cooked you’re on the right track. And just eat it on a special occasion. Then just watch that scale. If you are up the next day then cut back the amount of pasta the next time. I told myself that pasta would be a 4 times a year thing for me. I’ve been holding pretty close to that. Last night I ate this and woke up .6 pounds lighter. All is good.

Servings: Serves 6 – 9

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of penne rigate uncooked pasta (Dreamfields brand)
  • 2 Tbl of olive oil
  • ½ medium Vidalia onion, diced
  • 1-1/2 pounds of ground sirloin (93% is fine or even lower). Even ground beef will work.
  • 8 oz of mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tsp of garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp of Italian seasoning blend
  • 28 oz of crushed tomatoes (get a brand with no sugar in the ingredient list)
  • ¼ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
  • 8 oz of shredded mozzarella
  • 5 oz of shredded parmesan

Instructions:

Cook the pasta in boiling water for 13 minutes. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking you can make your meat sauce. In a large sauté pan add the olive oil. Heat on medium high. Add the beef and the onion. Break up the beef while it’s cooking so it is bite-sized chunks. When it’s half way cooked add the mushrooms. Cook until beef shows no pink and the onions and mushrooms are softened. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning and the crushed tomatoes. Also add the pepper flakes.  Cook to meld the flavors. You are really just getting this good and hot (bubbling).

When the pasta is done take out a 9″ x 13″ casserole. Spread the pasta in the bottom. Spread the mozzarella on top of the pasta. Then add the meat sauce. When the meat sauce is spread across the bottom gently stir it a bit just to move the mozzarella around and get some of it up into the meat. Don’t feel like you have to stir it. That’s overkill. Now spread the Parmesan across the top.

Pop this into your oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees to melt the cheese and get the whole thing bubbling.

Easy Peazy. This meal is so easy to make a teenager or a rookie cook can do it. Very quick and easy for a weeknight. This can be made in quantity for a larger buffet party and will be a big hit at the Midwestern casserole gathering.

Enjoy!

Cheers,