I’m going to let you all in on a secret, The Beard does about 85% of the cooking in our household. But, I do about 85% of the baking, so it works. All that being said, when I do cook dinner, most of the time it’s Taco Pie or some semblance of a “pasta bake.” Don’t even come up at me with the word c*asserole because that word makes me want to die. 
I’m not sure why I always opt for this type of meal but I think it’s a comfort thing. I know I can’t go wrong with beef, cheese, fresh herbs and tasty sauce. My favorite cheese to use for cooking (usually) is fresh mozzarella. Not only because it’s delicious and melts beautifully, but because I can always snack on it while I’m cooking. I accidentally bought these pre-sliced logs from Costco and they were SO perfect to top this pasta bake. 
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can easily alter for your favorite seasonings or blends that you have at home. I used a Tuscan style blend from Penzey’s that has herbs like basil, oregano, and all things Italian and delicious.
Even though we added some dried herbs to the dish, the fresh basil is the real MVP in this pasta bake. I love the flavor and scent of fresh basil, it just makes everything smell so beautiful and refreshing. Bonus points if you use fresh basil from your garden. I’ve been unsuccessful with any sort of herb garden or regular garden for about 6 years so please share your secrets. 
You’ll want to cook both the pasta and the ground beef a little bit before putting it in the oven to bake. Make sure you drain your ground beef pretty well otherwise your pasta bake could get a little soggy and no-one wants that.
While the pasta is cooking, you can also prepare the sauce. We used a regular jarred pasta sauce but then added a little bit of heavy cream to it to make it extra fattening and delicious. Just toss it in a saucepan, add your cream and then warm for a few minutes. It doesn’t need to be piping hot because you are still going to cook it with your pasta bake.
Add the pasta, basil, and seasoned ground beef in a large bowl and mix to combine. You want to make sure it’s pretty well combined so you don’t just get a hunk of beef or a hunk of basil with no pasta. Make sure it’s pretty balanced! 
Then, just pour into your baking dish, careful not to overfill because you still have to add sauce and cheese on top. You could easily fit all of this in a 9×13 baking dish but I just love this Le Crueset baking dish. It’s pretty and sometimes that trumps convenience. Then, carefully add your sauce and top with cheese!
Very important tip – Place your baking dish on a baking sheet before putting in the oven just in case it decides to overflow. Your oven will thank me. Also, like how good does this crispy, browned cheese look? The flavors in this dish are seriously SO good. 
Soooo cheesey and amazing. For those who will ask, no I don’t think you need to put any more cheese inside of the pasta bake because the mozzarella on top will totally suffice. If you don’t buy the slices, I would make sure to even coat the top with the fresh mozzarella because you want it be completely covered.
Okay, so maybe I added more fresh Parmigiano Reggiano but that’s basically just like extra salt so whatever. Then, I added some extra fresh basil because I just loveeee fresh basil and it makes this pasta bake even more delish! This is a really good bones of a recipe that you can completely adjust for noodle, sauce, even other fresh herbs. Make sure to tag us on social media when you make it!
- 1 pound dry pasta
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon Tuscan Sunset spice blend (or another Italian seasoning)
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- salt and pepper
- 2 1/2 cups of favorite pasta sauce
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 log of fresh mozzarella
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook dry pasta according to package instructions. When finished cooking, drain pasta very well and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, season ground beef. Then, add to a cast iron skillet and cook on medium heat for about 7-10 minutes until mostly browned.
- While cooking, be sure to stir and break into smaller pieces. When finished cooking, drain slightly then set ground beef aside.
- Prepare pasta sauce by adding to a saucepan and carefully adding in the heavy cream. Heat over medium heat and stir until fully combined for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil, drained pasta, and seasoned beef to a large bowl and stir to fully combine.
- Then, add pasta/basil/beef to baking dish, careful not to overfill.
- Gently add pasta sauce on top of pasta/basil/beef, careful not to overfill.
- Then, layer slices of fresh mozzarella until fully topped with cheese.
- Place full baking dish on a baking sheet and then put the whole thing in the oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until cheese is browned and gooey.
- Remove from oven, cool slightly and add additional 1/2 cup of fresh basil and Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Enjoy!
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