Meaty Tomato Pasta

Spring has sprung and it has been busy in my house. I notice I haven't written a new post for almost 2 months. I have been half writing posts. Now I plan to finish.
This post is about my throw together dinner that is my go to at least once a week. It is healthy and easy! So many different combinations can be put into this dish. It's just whatever I have on hand. Alright here we go Baked Meaty Tomato Pasta!
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 TBS diced garlic
 1/2 Yellow onion diced
15oz can of Tomato Sauce
 16- 20oz Meat-- this can vary*
 1/4 cup pured squash, sweet potatoes or carrots etc.- OPTIONAL
1 tsp dried Basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried dill weed
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 pound whole wheat pasta or gluten free pasta
8 oz  Shredded Italian Cheese- this can vary**

optional add ins - 1 cup of corn kernels, 1 /12 cups Garbanzo beans,  Use rice instead of Pasta!
* Meat-I use Italian sausage links the most, brown them up then slice. But using ground beef, turkey, chicken is great too. Really any kind of meat that is available.
** Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano-  in a pinch I have used cheddar.

In a 4 quart pot start boiling water for the pasta, add a pinch of salt. Once the water starts to boil add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions.

before adding the cheese and baking!

 Meanwhile in heavy roasting pan cook your meat. Once it is done cooking, drain the fat- if any and set aside. In the same pan add the Olive Oil and saute with the onion and garlic till translucent.  If the meat needs to be sliced slice it now and add to the onion garlic mix. Time to add the spices, tomato sauce,  and pured veggies. By this time the pasta should be done cooking. drain but SAVE some of the cooking water! Add the pasta directly to the tomato mixture, toss all together. At this point look and see if the sauce looks a little dry, that is when I like to add some of the pasta water to thin it out. After everything looks combined sprinkle the top with the cheese and turn the oven to broil- (my saute pans are all metal if yours have a plastic handle I suggest you transfer the pasta to a baking dish then sprinkle with cheese) Toss the whole thing in the oven to brown the cheese up for about 3-5 minutes. Pull from the oven let sit a few minutes before eating. So quick and easy, the best part just use up what is in the pantry and fridge.


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On the roller derby news front my team has a game coming up on May 19th. If anyone is in the Everett, Washington area you should come on by for a good fun game! Check out my team's website for all the details. http://www.tacokickers.com/.