Baked Mostaccioli

Recreating one of my husband’s childhood favorites with a few tweaks from my mom’s meat sauce recipe. What we get is a delicious family favorite that’s easy to prep in advance and stick in the oven when ready.

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Baked Mostaccioli

An easy make-ahead dish for any family dinner.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8

Equipment

• 9×13 pan
• large sauce pan

Ingredients

  

• 12 oz penne or mostaccioli
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 24 oz marinara sauce
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes preferably fire roasted
• ¼ cup water
• 1½ tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella ~ 2 cups
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated/crumbled

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Par cook pasta (a minute or two less than package instructions for al dente). Drain and set aside.
• In a large saucepan brown ground beef, onion, and garlic.
• Stir in marinara, diced tomatoes, water, italian seasoning, and brown sugar. Simmer 5 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and simmer 3-5 minutes, or until thickened.
• Add pasta to sauce and stir to coat evenly, and pour sauce and pasta into 9×13 baking pan.
• Top with cheeses.
• Bake 30-35 minutes, or until hot (usually bubbling) and cheese is medium brown.

Notes

• This recipe calls for par-cooking the noodles as they’ll cook more in the oven.
• To make ahead you can prep and cover in the fridge, and cook for 5-10 additional minutes to cook through.