Freaking amazing baked pasta casserole. Freaking CHEAP, too.

Did you ever think you would read "amazing" and "pasta" and "casserole" in the same sentence?  Well.  Welcome to my playground.

I can't take credit for the original recipe, but as I modified the crap out of it, I will anyway.  Here are the ingredients:

• 1 pound uncooked penne pasta
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 1 large green pepper (finely chopped)
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 5 c tomato puree
• 1/3 c Spaghetti Seasoning Mix
• 1 can cooked red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley (chopped)
• 3/4 c sour cream
• 1.5 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 
  

Yeah, yeah.  That's a big can of tomato puree.  Shut it.  BTW, it's a little sneaky to have a recipe in a recipe.  The above linked Spaghetti Seasoning Mix is something that you can make a batch of and have it for a while. You add it to plain old (inexpensive) tomato puree and it makes it taste like a nice sauce.  Give it a whirl!

Get a pot of water boiling for the pasta.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Add the butter to the (large) skillet and then add the green pepper, onion, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Get the vegetables a little tender (I like them a little crunchy) and then add your 5 cups of tomato puree and your 1/3 cup of the Spaghetti Seasoning Mix.

Mix well and let it simmer about 15 minutes.  (BTW cook your pasta now, too!)  See how magical the mix makes the sauce?

Since I know you were *DYING* to know what became of the rest of the sauce can, I divided it up and FROZE it.  Now I have tomato puree for "months.*  Haha, see where I splattered puree all over the wall?

Right.  SO after your sauce has simmered its heart out and your pasta is done and drained... turn off the heat and stir in your sour cream, parsley, and beans.

Mix well, and apply maybe half of the sauce to a BIG casserole dish.  I think this is a 15" x 10" or something.  I also used a bit of Olive Oil to grease the casserole dish, first.  I was trying to keep that a secret, but I caved at the last second.

Add half (or all- I'm not the boss of you) of the pasta to the casserole, and take your time mixing it well.  Add the rest of the sauce and keep mixing.

Don't be lazy and dump the pasta in the bottom and then pour the sauce over the top and think it will work out nicely without mixing.  Only scumbags would try this.  I'm not saying that I HAVE done that...but if I did, it definitely ended poorly.  *AHEM*

Anyway, top it with the cheese, and pop that bad boy into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  You want it to be bubbling a bit.  Bonus points for browning cheese.

This was SO GOOD.  The red kidney beans blend in perfectly, and the sun-dried tomatoes give it an interesting tang.  And as you can see, this is enough food for at least 8 servings.  So don't sweat the cheese- you don't end up eating that much of it in one sitting!

I'm thinking dinner tonight, lunch & dinner tomorrow, and then I'll freeze the last 2 servings for a lunch or a night when cooking is out of the question.  That's a pretty hefty pay-off!