Delicious oven-baked beef and spinach pasta casserole, baked in a rich cheese roux sauce to give you a great dinner.Easy to make and very tasty! Freezer Friendly too. 

Ground Beef & Spinach Cheesy Pasta Bake. The smells coming from the oven when this is cooking is simply wonderful!

Here I made a simple pasta bake using fresh ingredients, so it's full of flavor and oh so delicious! I make this often, and simply use whatever pasta I have in the cupboard. You can even use up any odd leftover bags of pasta in the recipe.

It is a very filling dish, so beware! What looks like a small portion on your plate is certainly going to fill your tummy!
Please enjoy!

You will need an oven proof dish, measuring approx 8 x 10 inches and deep enough to about 4 inches.

Ingredients

2 Cups of your favorite pasta, cooked and drained.

Meat Sauce

500 g or 1 lb Ground beef, pork, chicken or soya
1 Package of fresh or frozen spinach (I have tried the recipe out using both and they work very well, so choose whatever you can buy!)
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce (or Balsamic Vinegar)
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
Salt & Pepper
I also used a handful of sliced mushrooms for added texture.
You can also add some fresh basil/thyme etc when cooking the meat.

Cheese Sauce

3 Tablespoons butter
40 g / 1/3 cup All Purpose Flour
300 ml / 1 1/4 cups Milk (I used skimmed milk)
300 ml or 1 1/4 cups Chicken Broth
150 g / 1 1/2 cups grated cheese
Choose your favorite cheese. I used Cheddar.
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Make the meat filling

1. Peel & chop onion, garlic (and mushrooms if using) then add to a pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

2. Lightly fry until the onions are soft and translucent (not brown as this will make them taste bitter)

3. Add your meat and cornstarch and cook, stirring in the pan with the other ingredients. Add the spinach and Worcestershire Sauce and leave to simmer very low whilst you make the cheese sauce. Season if you wish with salt & pepper.

Make the Cheese Sauce

1. Melt butter in a pan under gentle heat

2. Add Flour and beat until smooth paste and take the pan off the heat.

3. Slowly add the milk and broth (combine them into one jug for ease), a little at a time and combine until smooth, then add a little more of the milk/broth, combine. Continue until all the milk/broth is used.

4. Return to gentle heat, and keep stirring until thick This will take about 5 minutes so be patient and keep stirring!. Season with salt and pepper if you wish. (your cheese may be salty so taste the sauce first!)

5. Add 3/4 of the grated cheese and combine. The remaining 1/4 of the cheese is for the top of the bake.

Build the Pasta Bake

1. Preheat oven to 170 C / 325 F / Gas 3

2. Start with a layer of 1/3 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the pan, then a layer of cooked pasta, then cheese sauce.

Repeat these layers, ending with the cheese sauce as the final top layer. Then sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top.

*** you should be able to make 3 layers altogether.

3. Place in the oven for 45 minutes. I would advise placing the bake on a baking tray to catch any drips.

When done, remove and leave to set for 30 minutes. If you try and cut the bake when it is piping hot it is too slushy. Allow to firm up a little then you can make nice portions and get the bake from the pan using a fish slice.

If you enjoy cooking with ground meat, why not try our Poor Man's Stew. It's all made from scratch and absolutely full of flavor! Really easy recipe too!

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