Cooking Thursday

I got today's recipe from my friend Carrie at Northwoods Scrapbook. She shares lots of good recipes and this one sounded like a winner.  And... it was!  Her recipe called for ground beef but I used Italian sausage because I had some in the freezer.  I'm sure either would be good.  It was easy to make and full of flavor.

Easy Spaghetti Hot Dish

1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce or marinara
1 box of your favorite pasta; spaghetti, penne (I used rigatoni)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Spices of your choice; salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, oregano

In a dutch oven or pot, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and green pepper and cook for several minutes until softened. Add the garlic and brown for a minute. Then push veggies to the side and add your meat, cook until it's done and drain any grease. Stir meat and veggies together.
Pour in your sauce and add seasonings of your choice.  Cover and let it simmer.
In the meantime boil water in another pot and make pasta according to the box directions.
Drain pasta and add to the sauce mix. Stir half of the mozzarella into the pasta and sauce, then sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella on top.
You can cover it to let the cheese melt and then serve it or put it into a casserole and keep warm in the over.
Serve with parmesan on the side to sprinkle on top.