Pasta Bake

Remember the Pasta Bake sauce that Prego had about 5-10 years ago? We loved that stuff. It was a quick and easy meal. Mix one can of sauce, a box of pasta, and a jar of water, cover, and bake for an hour or so. Uncover, top with cheese and put back in the oven until the cheese is melted. We made that all of the time, and then Prego pulled the sauce from the shelves. It made sense really. How was that sauce any different from the spaghetti sauce they already produced? However, it led us to forgetting this quick and easy meal. Until tonight...

Tonight, John went ahead and precooked the pasta and browned some ground beef. He combined those with a jar of spaghetti sauce (no extra water since the pasta was cooked) and topped with mozzarella cheese. He stuck it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, and we had a dinner that all of us loved. Jack couldn't get enough, and even Mara kept talking about how much she liked it. And this is the girl who usually doesn't do casseroles.

I told Mara that I'll let her make this dish one of these weekends. Her first response was, "I can't cook!" But I think she warmed up to the idea when I said I'd help her. I told her that I would brown the meat and put it in the oven, but she can add the pasta, sauce, and water (just like we used to do).