Southwestern Pasta Casserole
Do you love Southwestern food as much as I do? Tacos, Burritos, Taquitos, Taco Soup, Chicken and Black Bean Soup, Southwestern Casseroles and Salads, Dips and one of my personal favorites Quesadillas.
If you’re with me, I have a super duper yummy Southwestern casserole that I’ve been making for years but never posted about. Don’t ask me why??? I saw it at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Momma years and years ago when I first started putting meal plans on here. (Like 2011)
Over the years I’ve tweaked it some to suit my family and make a slightly bigger amount. It’s so good! You can add whatever toppings you like…hot sauce, sour cream, extra salsa, extra cheese, avocado or guacamole. You don’t need any of these as it’s yummy on it’s own, but some of us can’t leave well enough alone. 😛
Here’s the scrumptious recipe:
Southwestern Casserole
Ingredients
- 10-12 ounces Pasta like Cellentani, Penne or Rigatoni any larger hearty pasta, I cook a 16 oz box and then use a little more than half for this recipe and save the rest
- 15 ounce can Corn, well drained or 1 cup of frozen corn
- 15 ounce can Black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15-16 ounce jar Salsa
- 1 tbsp Dried, minced onion
- 1/2 to 1 pound Ground beef or ground turkey drain fat off after cooking, most often I cook it up ahead of time in my crockpot on high
- 1 ounce packet or 2 tbsp Taco seasoning
- 3/4 tsp Cumin
- 16 ounces Cottage cheese
- 8 to 16 ounces Shredded sharp cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese mix from the grocery
- 1 large Egg or 2 small ones
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook and drain pasta.
- Cook ground beef or ground turkey till cooked completely through, adding in the minced onion, taco seasoning, cumin, salsa and salt and pepper to taste.
- Gently add the pasta, corn and black beans to the pan with the meat and lightly stir together.
- Separately stir together the cottage cheese and whisked egg.
- In a 9 x 12 greased casserole dish layer: half of meat mixture, all of the pasta, and then all of the cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese. Then top with the rest of the meat mixture and the rest of the Cheddar cheese.
- Spray the inside of a large piece of foil with cooking spray to cover the casserole without it sticking. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, and then uncover and bake for 15 minutes more or until the cheese on top is to your liking.
I hope you’ll enjoy this as much as I do! 🙂
