Pasta Bake Deluxe

My husband had been talking about making a baked pasta dish, I am afraid of eating anything with a red sauce as I get horrible heartburn. He said he would make it less acidic and it worked.

It was soo delicious, rich and flavorful. It was a family effort! I started everything while he was on a conference call and he swooped in and made it delicious!

• 1/2 lb Italian pork sausage
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 3 garlic cloves crushed and minced
• 1 1lb box of Rigatoni (dry) noodles
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of sour cream (I used fat free)
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/3 cup Ricotta cheese
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
• 3/4 cup Asiago cheese, grated (save 1/4 cup for the top)
• 1 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese (save about 3/4 cup for the top)
• 1/2 cup of Cheddar (save for the top)
• 1 tbl fresh or dried Basil
• 1/2 tbl ground Fennel seed
• 1 tbl Oregano (dried)
• 1 tbl Tomato paste
• 1 tbl beef bullion
• 1/2 c dry red wine
• 1/4 c red wine vinegar

Place your sausage and beef in a non stick pan, break apart with your spoon or hands and cook until it seems about 1/2 way done. Drain any excess water/fat and add your onions, garlic and spices. Continue cooking till no longer pink.

Add your tomato sauce, can of tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, beef bullion and let simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Add the vinegar, cream cheese, ricotta and sour cream and stir in for an even distribution.

In the meantime cook your pasta in well salted water, cook the pasta for 1/2 the time recommended on the package, it will be very al dente, run cold water on it to stop cooking and drain. Set aside until sauce is ready.

In a large, deep casserole, combine sauce and noodles and mix in the mozzarella and asiago noted above (save the topping cheese for later).

Cook, covered in at 350 for approximately 30-40 minutes. You want the entire mixture to be bubbly and the noodles will be thoroughly cooked.

Remove the cover, add the topping cheeses, return to the oven for about 10 minutes. Next, I powered up the broiler to HIGH to put some color on the melted cheese. Watch carefully to prevent burning the cheese.

Serve immediately with crusty hot buttery french bread.

This recipe should feed about 8 very hungry people.