Beef Taco Penne Bake

I was suppose to make beef taco lasagna (from my Freezer Pleasers book) but realized I only had 4 lasagna noodles (I needed 24). So i bagged the lasagna idea and went with another type of taco pasta dish. This makes 2 casserole dishes. One to eat now & one to freeze later! :-) I froze both because i have an awesome new freezer!!!!!!!!!!


So last night I used one of the dishes for dinner. If freezing, defrost in fridge for 8 hours. I put it in the fridge before I left for work and took it out when I got home, probably was more than 8 hours, but that was fine. Then take out of fridge and preheat oven to 350. Bake in oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Mine came out a little dry, so you may want to think about adding a little bit of water when it's in the oven. Or you can add more sauce & cheese to the original recipe, maybe diced tomatoes as well.


Ingredients:

Casserole, before it goes in the oven.

1 box of whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb of extra lean ground beef
3 tablespoons of taco seasoning
4 egg whites
2 cups of fat free cottage cheese
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans of diced tomatoes or salsa


Directions:
Cook pasta according to box directions
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink.
Stir in taco seasoning & tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Cheesy, yummy goodness.

In a small bowl, combine egg whites & cottage cheese.
Drain noodles and pour into two casserole dishes.
Pour in cottage cheese mixture, then beef mixture.
Top with shredded cheese.
Cover & freeze or cook now.


To eat now: Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.
To eat later: Thaw in fridge for 8 hours. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Cook in oven as above.

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