.baked pasta.

For all that know me well, I am really not a huge fan of red sauce. I usually prefer to stick with pesto or alfredo sauce. However, I had a random craving to make pasta with meat sauce for the first time EVER!!! and...........I actually LOVED it. Surprise surprise. I also made such a large portion because I figured why not make the entire package of pasta :) Which made for some amazing leftovers. (apparently it also tastes good cold..I caught the hubby eating it as a midnight snack, he did not want to warm it up in fear of waking me up :)



Ingredients
1 pkg. of rigatoni pasta
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
italian seasoning to taste
crushed red pepper (optional)
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms
1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preparation
Bring a large pot of lightly salted boil water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 10 to 12 minutes, or until al dente. Drain well. Meanwhile, cook ground beef and chopped onions in a skillet over medium heat until browned. Also, cook mushrooms until softened. Combine pasta, ground beef, mushrooms, spaghetti sauce. Mix well and add additional italian seasoning and crushed red pepper to taste. Transfer half of mixture to a greased, 9x13 inch casserole dish. Top with half of the mozzarella cheese. Transfer the rest of the pasta into the dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until very hot. Enjoy!