Penne Pasta With Beef And Marinara Sauce
October 11, 2016
After purchasing this Barilla Pronto Penne Pasta awhile back, making a one-dish pasta meal was a particularly pleasing idea one night last week. This recipe for ‘Quick and Easy Penne Pasta With Beef And Marinara Sauce’ was born on that night.
As I pulled the box of Barilla Pronto Penne Pasta out of the cupboard, Dave warned me that he likes plain old spaghetti and was not interested in penne pasta. Obviously, that did not thwart my plan to use the penne pasta.
As you can see on the box, it touts one pan-no boil-no drain. Some products are loaded with promises and don’t really deliver, you know?
Not a clear idea of what the actual dish I was making would be, I began by making the marinara sauce. Yes, this is the same basic marinara sauce recipe I use for Chicken Parmesan, Lasagna, and Spaghetti and Meatballs. It has so much more flavor in it than those varieties in a jar.
On the bottom shelf in the refrigerator, about a pound of hamburger leftover from the night before begged to be used. So, I seasoned the burger meat with 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 3/4 teaspoon of pepper. Then, crumbled and fried the burger meat in a skillet.
Wow! Was this ever easy! The Pronto pasta was cooked in a 12-inch skillet, following the directions on the box. Pour the whole box of penne into the skillet. Add 3 cups of cold water to the pan, covering the pasta. Turn the burner to high and set the time for 10 minutes! After the suggested cooking time, I tried the pasta. Perfect al dente! Wow! This did deliver on the promises!
At that point, the marinara sauce was poured over the pasta and the fried hamburger meat was added. Everything was already hot, so it was ready to serve!
Some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese was grated over the skillet and also over each serving.
It just so happened the grandkids were here. They loved this dish! Aidan had seconds, thirds, and unless I miscounted, fourths. Sophia had seconds. They both kept saying how good it was. Of course, when Dave was asked, he agreed that it was really tasty. However, he mumbled something about it would have been even better with spaghetti.
Recipe: Penne Pasta With Beef And Marinara Sauce
1 recipe of Basic Marinara Sauce
*1 pound 90% Lean Burger Meat seasoned with
3/4 tsp. salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper
1 box Barilla Pronto Penne Pasta
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Prepare the Marinara Sauce first. Let it simmer on the stove while you prepare the burger and the pasta.
Cook the hamburger meat seasoned with the salt and pepper.
Prepare the pasta per package directions. When the pasta is finished in 10 minutes, pour the sauce and the cooked burger over the pasta.
Shred the cheese over the top of the dish. Serve.
*It is not necessary to drain fat from the 90% lean beef.
Judging from their reaction to this dish, I’m pretty sure the kids will be requesting this again soon. It is so quick and easy, why not?
This is one of those dishes easily prepared in a half-hour! The next time you have one of those busy days and need a quick one-dish meal, remember this simple recipe for Quick And Easy Penne Pasta With Beef And Marinara Sauce!
