Tex Mex Pasta Baked Casserole

By: Mario Laliberte from mc2creativeliving.com

$Tex Mex Pasta Baked Casserole$

By: Mario Laliberte from mc2creativeliving.com

"Pasta casserole is my go to when I’m in a hurry. Pasta dishes are not only delicious but fairly quick to prepare, especially when taking shortcuts by using store-bought ingredients, or you can use homemade sauces and salsa, previously made and preserved in sterilized jars like I do. I always have homemade marinara sauce and salsa in my pantry. They are a real time saver at dinner time. For this Tex Mex pasta baked casserole, you can use your favourite brand of salsa and marinara sauce."

Click here for the easy recipe

Serves4 people

Preparation Time10 min

Cooking Time45 min

Ingredients

4 cups short pasta (penne, macaroni elbows or shells)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 celery stick (chopped)
1 small onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 cup Mexican tomato salsa
1 cup marinara sauce
2 cups Tex Mex shredded cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil and cook the pasta (cook 3 minutes less than the package recommendation, the pasta will continue to cook in the oven).
In a large pan, heat up the olive oil.
Add in the celery, onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
Add in the beef and cook until no pink remains (about 8 minutes).
Salt and pepper the meat to taste.
Add in the marinara sauce and the Mexican tomato salsa.