Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

Meat sauce:

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

3 small yellow onions, diced

3 tbs minced garlic

28 oz crushed tomatoes

28 oz fire roasted tomatoes

2 oz tomato paste

1 tbs oregano

olive oil

Cheese mixture:

2 cups ricotta cheese

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

5 tbs grass-fed heavy cream

1 cup filtered water

2 pastured eggs

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbs basil, chopped

1 1/2 cups shaved parmesan

6 mozzarella slices

20 oz gluten free rotini noodles (tinkyada brand)

Instructions:

Sauté the diced onions with minced garlic and olive oil in a large pot until translucent and fragrant- a few minutes. Add in the ground beef and break it up until it is in fine pieces. Cook through. Add in the oregano, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and fire roasted tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes until thickened.

Make the cheese mixture in a medium saucepan. Whisk the eggs, stir in the milk, ricotta cheese, parmesan, chopped basil, sea salt and pepper. Combine everything together until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Ladle an even thin layer of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan with 3 inch sides. Next, add a layer of the pasta, then a layer of the cheese mixture. Add 6 slices of mozzarella evenly on top, then repeat the other layers of meat sauce, pasta and ricotta cheese mixture. Add shaved parmesan as the top layer.

Place the pan on a large baking sheet, bake for one hour covered with foil.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove and let set for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve topped with chopped basil.
Enjoy!