I have been sitting here for 30 minutes trying to come up with a clever name for this dish and I’ve been failing miserably. So “Some Veggies & Bacon Pasta Bake” it is.
This meal resulted from an abundance of small leftovers that needed to be used. I had a bit of bacon leftover from making the Bacon Maple Cookies and miscellaneous portions of frozen veggies in my freezer. I realized that what I had on hand all went well with bacon, so I decided to just combine it all together into a sauce with some cottage cheese and pasta.
I knew it would be good, but I had no idea it would be so good. We all loved it so much that it’s going to become part of our rotation on a regular basis and not just a vehicle for using up leftovers.
Some Veggies & Bacon Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, diced
- 1/2 onion onion, sliced
- 1 cup frozen spinach (or 2 1/2 c. fresh)
- 1 cup frozen green beans (or 1 c. fresh green beans, boiled for about 3 minutes)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cp beef stock
- 1 16 oz container cottage cheese
- 1 lb fully cooked and drained pasta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook bacon until it starts to brown. Add onions and continue cooking until bacon is browned and crisped. Add in spinach and green beans. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, beef stock, Italian seasoning and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer 5-10 minutes.
- Place cooked pasta in the bottom of a 13×9 casserole dish. Cover with cottage cheese. Pour sauce on top.
- If you’re preparing this in stolen moments, refrigerate at this point. Just before baking, cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.
