Greek Pasta Bake

Greek Pasta Bake
From tasteofhome.com

Ingredients

  • ½ lb ground beef
  • ½ lb ground lamb
  • 1 red onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 3 t dried oregano
  • 1 t dried basil
  • ½ t salt
  • ¼ t pepper
  • ¼ t dried thyme
  • 1 15oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 T lemon juice (1 lemon or lemon half)
  • 1 t sugar
  • ¼ t ground cinnamon
  • 2 c uncooked rigatoni
  • 4 oz crumbled feta

Instructions

  1. Step 1

    In Dutch Oven, cook beef and lamb over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain.

  2. Step 2

    Stir in onion, let cook ~5 min to take off sharp bite.

  3. Step 3

    Deglaze with a touch of the diced tomatoes water. Add in herbs and s&p, tomatoes and sauce, and lemon juice. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring occassionally.

  4. Step 4

    Cook the pasta according to directions, quite al dente. Drain.

  5. Step 5

    Stir sugar and cinnamon into meat mixture, simmer uncovered an additional 15 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Stir pasta into meat mixture. Transfer the mix/pasta mixture into a greased 2-2.5qt casserole baking dish. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

  7. IF FREEZING:

    Cover and freeze as an assembled casserole in dish. To use, let thaw in refrigerator overnight, and remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake as directed, increasing time if needed.

  8. IF COOKING IMMEDIATELY:

    Preheat oven to 325F. Cover casserole dish with foil, bake 45 minutes. Uncover, bake additional 15 minutes.