Olive Beef Pasta

I learned to cook at a young age and this recipe is one of the first dishes I cooked.  We had personal sized crocks and I used to fill them up and top them cheddar cheese.  I couldn’t wait for time to pass so that I could enjoy my very own bowl!  And we always had leftovers which made me one happy little girl.  The recipe is very simple and can be modified to suit individual tastes.  I’m a big olive and banana pepper lover so I add generous portions of each.  The original recipe called for cheddar cheese, but I think a good parmesan would be a nice change.  I always use this sauce because it has no artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup.  The spiral noodles have all those little nooks and crannies to hold onto the sauce.  I like to think of this dish as rustic so I rough chop everything so it’s a little chunkier and I like to use the chunky sauce.

Ingredients:

16 oz. box spiral noodles, prepared
1 lb. lean ground beef
6 oz. can medium pitted olives, sliced
1/2 cup banana peppers, chopped
24 oz. Ragu chunky sauce
8 oz. cheddar cheese or other
fresh chopped parsley, optional

Directions:

1.  Brown ground beef. 


2.  Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes or until tender. 


3.  Toss in peppers and olives.


4.  Add jar of sauce stir to combine until heated.


5.  Remove from heat and add pasta to mixture. 


6.  Transfer to a baking dish and top with cheese.


7.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.


Serve topped with fresh parsley, cheese, red pepper flakes or additional sauce if desired.