Pasta Bake with Ground Meat, Zucchini, and Mushrooms

It's cold and gloomy outside, and I don't even feel like going anywhere. I think I actually preferred it when there was lots of snow. It was white and pleasant, because I don't like a winter like this one.

Well, I've had my little whine. Luckily, I have my kitchen and a few ideas waiting in line to be tried, so at least I get to sit in a warm kitchen surrounded by wonderful smells. My daughters assist me as best they can, the music is playing… What more could I want?

A while ago I had a small shopping crisis and had to put together dinner from whatever I had on hand. Basically from leftovers. I had one tiny zucchini, some leftover ground meat, a few mushrooms, canned tomatoes, and kids who increasingly turn up their noses at dinner dishes. Fortunately, those leftovers turned out to be enough to make something good.

Pasta Bake with Ground Meat, Zucchini, and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• about 2 cups pasta (e.g. rotini, farfalle/bow ties, or tubes)
• 300 g ground meat
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 onion
• 100 g mushrooms (you can use more, I just didn't have any)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can tomatoes (400 g)
• shredded yellow cheese (like cheddar) or mozzarella, or both
• oregano
• basil
• pepper
• salt
• fat for frying
• optionally a few tbsp cream

Cook the pasta al dente in salted water. Wash the zucchini and cut it into small cubes. Peel the onion and dice it. Clean the mushrooms and slice them. Brown the ground meat in a skillet in a small amount of fat. In a second skillet, lightly sauté the mushrooms, add the onion and zucchini, and cook them together until the zucchini is tender but not mushy. Add the vegetables to the meat, press in the garlic, pour in the canned tomatoes (blended or mashed with a fork), season, and mix well. You can optionally add cream (as much as you like, I don't add any). Combine everything with the pasta, add half of the cheese, and mix well. Transfer to a lightly greased baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and bake at 200°C (400°F) for about 20-30 minutes. The cheese should melt nicely and turn lightly golden.

Enjoy!