Mexican Pasta Bake

Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta to al dente according to package instructions. Drain pasta but before you do, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Set pasta and reserved cooking water aside.

Turn on oven to 350 F.

In a large pan, pan fry ground beef, onion, and green peppers over medium-high heat until beef is brown. Drain the grease from the beef mixture. Return pan to medium heat, and add garlic, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayanne, salt, pepper, and pasta cooking water. Mix well to combine and allow to simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thicker. You want the “sauce” to be fairly loose so the casserole does not dry out in the oven. Add the drained black beans, Mexi-corn and pasta. Stir well to completely combine, and allow to heat through.

At this point, you can either make two 9×13″ casseroles and freeze one, or make one 11×17″ casserole for a larger group of people. If you are making the 9×13″ pans, top the one you are about to bake with 2 cups of shredded cheese, and leave the other plain to be frozen. If you are making the 11×17 pan, top with all 4 cups of shredded cheese.

Place pan in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and golden brown. Serve with your choice of garnishes. Enjoy!