Bats and Cobwebs Pasta

I make this for Halloween every year! It's a family favorite that I even make off season too. It's like spaghetti using bow-tie pasta! It is mixed together with mozzarella cheese cubes and baked in the oven. The bow-tie pasa is the bats and the stringy, gooey mozzarella cheese is the cobwebs!

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 30 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

SERVINGS: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 (8 ounce) package Farfalle (bow-tie) pasta

1 pound Ground Beef

1 small Red Onion, diced (optional)

1 (28 ounce) jar Pasta Sauce (I use Ragu Traditional, but you can use your favorite sauce)

8 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven for 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius).

2. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and 1 tablespoon olive oil, bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Boil pasta, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but still firm to the bites, about 12 minutes. Drain well.

3. Cook and stir ground beef and onion in a large skillet until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. (I use my large number 20 Cast Iron pan so that I can just pop that into the oven.) Drain fat. Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.

4. Stir cooked pasta and half of the mozzarella cheese into the sauce; toss to combine. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish. (Like I said above, I leave mine in my large Cast Iron pan to bake.) Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes.