Dinner Tonight- Baked Pasta

Just before Christmas we had dear friends over for dinner and they requested this dish. It is supposed to be made with spaghetti, I decided to try something different and used spiral-shaped pasta instead, and it was not as good in my opinion. I will stick to spaghetti from now on.

Ingredients: 

1lbs. spaguetti

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 lbs. ground beef

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

6 button mushrooms, sliced ( clean mushrooms with damp paper towel before slicing)

2 minced cloves of garlic

2 (14.5oz) cans diced tomatoes

1 (15oz) can tomato sauce

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions: 

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. 

In a large Dutch oven, cook beef and garlic salt over medium-high heat until beef is browned and crumbly. Drain; set aside.

In the same pot, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, mushroom, and garlic, saute until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Add beef, bring to a boil. Remove from heat. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup sauce on bottom of prepared pan, Top with half of spaghetti noodles, half of spaghetti sauce, and 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients, ending with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until  cheese melts.

                                  The main dish.

We served it with a simple homemade white bread; and had tomato brushetta ( made by Dear Husband) and olive tapenade ( store bought) to top it up.