{Recipe} Pot of Pasta

I dusted off this old recipe ~ so old that my 3x5 index card is yellowed with age! and made this for our church potluck.  I made enough to take to church and another pan to leave at home for us for tonight.

Here’s the original recipe (which I got from my mother-in-law, I think!)ingredients in {} are my additions

• 16 oz. cooked shell macaroni {I prefer shells because they are pretty but elbows work}
• 12 oz. sour cream {Do NOT skimp on the sour cream!}
• 2 lb. hamburger {I used half hamburger, and 1/2 Italian sausage}
• 1 large onion {I used 1 med}chopped
• {1 med. green bell pepper, chopped}
• 32 oz. Spaghetti sauce {home made would be awesome! The recipe said Ragu but I used what was on sale.  Also I used more like 52ish oz.. two of the 24-26oz size cans. We like it “saucier” than the recipe says
• {1/2- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese}
• 16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3-4 tsp. oregano
• {3-4 tsp. basil}
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Mix shells with sour cream and set aside
2. If Italian sausage is in link form, brown it and then chop it up.  If it is in bulk sausage form cook it with the hamburger.
3. Brown hamburger with onion and bell pepper.  Add cooked, chopped up/sliced sausage.
4. Mix meat mixture with spaghetti sauce and add seasonings.
5. Layer pasta, meat mixture and cheese.  I used a lasagna pan this time so I put the shells on the bottom, poured the sauce and meat over the shells and then topped with cheeses.  In the past, I’ve used a casserole dish and layered 1/2 of shells, 1/2 of sauce mix, 1/2 of cheese and then repeat layers.  Because it is thicker it would need to cook longer.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until hot, bubbly and cheese is melted (single layer).  I cover with aluminum foil for the first half to three quarters of baking time so that the cheese does not get brown too quickly.  For the casserole dish bake for 45- 1 hour.
7. This can be made ahead.  Increase baking time if refrigerated.