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Baked penne with beef & cauliflower

10
Points®
Total Time
2 hr 5 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
1 hr 55 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
There's nothing like a cheesy baked pasta dish to truly satisfy you and your guests at dinnertime, but adding ground beef and cauliflower really puts this recipe over the top. It comes together easily thanks to using store-bought marinara sauce, but if you have some homemade red sauce on hand, by all means, incorporate that instead. Add as little or as much red pepper flakes as you'd like depending on your heat tolerance. Love cheese? Then feel free to sprinkle each serving of this casserole with 1 tbsp finely grated Parmesan; just keep in mind that this will affect the nutritional value of the recipe.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

4 spray(s)

Uncooked 93% lean ground beef

1¼ pound(s)

Table salt

¼ tsp

Cremini mushroom

8 oz, sliced

Store-bought marinara sauce

24 oz

Red pepper flakes

¼ tsp, or to taste

Uncooked whole wheat penne

4 oz, about 1 1/4 cups

Cauliflower

½ head(s), medium, cut into small florets

Part skim ricotta cheese

½ cup(s)

Shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

¾ cup(s), or Italian cheese blend

Instructions

  1. Spray large skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add beef and salt; cook, breaking apart beef with wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer beef to medium bowl. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have released their liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in marinara, red pepper flakes, and reserved beef.
  2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 2-quart shallow baking dish lightly with nonstick spray.
  3. Cook pasta according to package directions just until al dente, adding cauliflower during last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain well.
  4. Stir pasta mixture into skillet with beef mixture. Transfer to prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Spoon ricotta by small teaspoonfuls over pasta. Bake until bubbling at edges, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese blend and bake until cheese melts, 8−10 minutes longer.
  5. serving: 1½ cups

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