Pasta bake

I didn't really want to label this posting as a recipe, see it more as a gentle guideline and some inspiration ;)

The other day when I was making empanadas I realised that I had made far too much of the filling. Throwing it out was never a question so I froze it. However, I needed to regain that freezer space so I had to come up with something to do with it. Empanadas again? Naah, too soon since the last time.

What I came up with was to make a pasta bake. What I did was to defrost the mince, add some sliced mushrooms, finely chopped garlic and fry that off for a minute or two. Then in with a can of chopped tomatoes and some spices like oregano etc.

In the meantime I cooked some conchligiette pasta until al dente. Once the pasta was drained I mixed it with the 'sort of bolognese sauce' I just had created. That went into a oven safe casserole dish. On top of the mixture I put some grated cheese that was mixed with breadcrumbs. Since I like oregano I chucked some of that on top to finish it off.

The cassserole dish went into a 200c oven until the cheese had melted and started to turn brown. Until it looked right, if you know what I mean.

Easy, frugal and tasty. What more can you really ask for after a long Monday at work? Well, I could have asked for a glass of Ravenswood Vintners Blend, a nice Californian Zinfandel from 2005. Which I did. Since I can't say no to myself I poured myself a glass of this excellent wine to enjoy together with my pasta. Result!

Enjoy!