Spur of the Moment Noodle Bake

It was dinner time, and I had no idea what to make. I was thinking lasagna, but I didn't have half of the ingredients to put one together. So, I improvised. I really enjoyed the finished dish, and as we were eating dinner, a miracle occurred. The teenager said, "Mom, this is really good."  I got up from dinner, took a picture of the dish-with-no-name, and sat down to write the recipe out. So, here is the teenager approved, spur of the moment noodle bake. Or some other clever title to be determined.

Ingredients:

4 oz. of cream cheese (1/2 of a block)

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese (shredded)

1 tsp of ranch seasoning (dry)

8 oz. of mozzarella (shredded) 

1 can of tomato sauce (15 oz.)

1 lb. of ground beef

½-1 tsp of Italian seasoning

¼-½ tsp of garlic powder

½ tsp of salt

12 oz. of pasta (I used elbow)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the pasta according to the (al dente) directions on the package, then drain.

In a medium sauce pan, brown the ground beef. I sprinkled it with salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder while it was cooking (that’s why my measurements aren't exact). Drain the cooked ground beef, and return it to the pan. Add the tomato sauce and the rest of the Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt to taste. Heat the sauce on low until you are ready to assemble.

In a bowl, with a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, Parmesan, and ranch seasoning.

To assemble, use a 9x9 pan. I like to put down parchment paper or oven paper in the bottom of the pan. Put a small amount of sauce over the parchment paper, and spread it out. Pour about half of the cooked pasta in and all of the cheese/sour cream mixture. Stir it into the pasta to coat it evenly. Top that with half of the sauce/meat mixture, followed by half of the mozzarella. Pour the other half of the pasta on, then the rest of the sauce/meat mixture, and top with the rest of the mozzarella.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.