Baked Pasta Casserole

Can be made with any shape pasta you like. Add extra veggies when available.

1 box - Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce, (approx. 3 cups)
14 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
1 lb extra lean Ground Beef browned and well drained
1 diced onion
1/2 cup low fat Shredded Cheese

Optional (not included in nutritional calculations):
Additional veggies - zucchini, eggplant, carrot, fresh tomato
Low fat or fat free cottage cheese


1. Begin to heat water to a boil for pasta. Add pasta and cook according to package directions while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Brown and crumble ground beef with diced onion. Drain well and rinse if desired.

3. Add jar of spaghetti sauce (lite/lowfat/healthy versions will lower calories, but this recipe calculates based on regular Bertolli Tomato & Basil sauce) and a can of diced tomatoes to the ground beef and simmer while the pasta cooks or however long you wish to simmer.

4. When pasta is cooked, drain well. Combine pasta and sauce in casserole dish or dishes. Toss to mix well.

5. If desired, add spoonfuls of low-fat or fat free cottage cheese and fold in to mix slightly.

6. Top with low fat shredded cheese. Bake in hot oven (400° or whatever temperature you are using to bake other menu items is fine) till cheese melts and begins to brown slightly.

* You may wish to sauté small diced veggies such as zucchini or eggplant with the meat. You can add a shredded carrot if desired. Using ground turkey, chicken or a veggie meat substitute may lower the fat/calories.

Number of Servings: 10

Calories: 267.0
Total Fat: 6.6 g
Cholesterol: 30.0 mg
Sodium: 446.0 mg
Total Carbs: 37.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.7 g
Protein: 17.4 g

Weight Watcher points: 5