My Latest Concoction

This is a recipe that will appeal to anyone looking for something quick, looking for a way to switch up the traditional beefaroni, or anyone just looking for something different to try. If you love anything with pasta, cheese and meat, you'll love this!!

Beefaroni is something I love to make for dinner for several reasons. It's quick, it tastes good, and I can get a second night out of it where I don't have to cook.

I don't make it all the time, but when I do one of my boys just doesn't care for it. It's not my cooking. He loves his mama's cooking and eats everything I cook.

He just doesn't care for beefaroni. Now this is tough for me because when I make a pot of this we get a lot and could easily have it for a second night, which is another reason I love to make it. So in order to make it work I needed to find a way to get this boy to enjoy beefaroni.

I thought of adding in a variety of cheeses and some Italian sausage. I added cheeses that I've used for other Italian recipes of mine that I'll share another time. Bottom line...the boy loved it. In the words of my two older teenage sons and a friend of theirs...my beefaroni was "bangin." Lol.

Easy Cheesy Beefaroni

Prep Time: 10-20 minutes

Cook Time: This depends. If you add the sausage it will take a little longer. With the sausage it takes about 45 minutes-to-an-hour. Without the sausage and just the cheeses, not counting prep time, 20 minutes.

Servings: 10-12 or more

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground beef
4-6 sweet Italian sausage links
1-8oz box of macaroni elbows
2-28oz cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Contadina or Tuttorosso)
1 28oz can of petite diced tomatoes (any brand)
1 small onion chopped and diced (or onion powder if you're really crunched for time)
1 tbsp. of garlic powder (or 2-3 fresh cloves of garlic if you have time)
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. basil
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of pepper
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of cottage cheese
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 cup of shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Boil a pot of water to start your macaroni elbows. While you wait for the water to boil chop up your onion. Add the onion and ground beef to one frying pan to brown while you brown your sausage links in a separate frying pan. Brown the ground beef and sausages on medium-low heat for 10-20 minutes until no longer pink. Sprinkle a little bit of your favorite seasonings on the ground beef. It's okay if the sausage is a little pink cause you're going to finish cooking it in the sauce anyway. While doing all of this your water should have started to boil and you'll have started and finished your elbows by the time the sausage and ground beef are done browning. Drain the ground beef and sausage links on paper towels when finished.
Slice and quarter your pieces of Italian sausage.
Put the crushed tomatoes, petite diced tomatoes, garlic powder (if used), onion powder (if used), basil, oregano, and parmesan cheese into a large Dutch oven. Add in your ground beef and quartered sausage links. Cook on low heat for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, stir in 1/4 cup of cottage cheese, 1/4 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of mozzarella, and your elbows. Stir well, allow to cool, and serve!