Beef and Spinach Pasta Bake with Fresh Mushrooms

I quite like living in Accra, sometimes.  It forces us to be creative in the kitchen.  Some ingredients I see in recipes simply aren't available.  Many others are just stupidly expensive.  For example, I refuse to spend 25 cedis on a pair of peaches.  (though the one time I did, ohhh...)

On the other side of the coin, you've got to think fast.  There are times when special ingredients show up in the supermarkets that you just know you won't see again for months.  You snap those up in massive quantities and bring 'em home.  The next time you open your refrigerator, you are struck by the question: "What exactly am I going to do with a pound and a half of fresh buffalo mozzarella and brown mushrooms?"

The recipe below called for condensed mushroom soup.  Well, we had mushrooms, we had cream.  We had some herbs.  We found a cream of mushroom soup recipe on allrecipes and tossed some of those ingredients into our sauce pot without making the soup.  We came out with a lovely, creamy tomato and mushroom sauce to hold together the beef and pasta.  Another big advantage: it's quick and easy.

Beef and Spinach Pasta Bake with Fresh Mushrooms
adapted from Food and Whine with a hat-tip to allrecipes
serves 4

prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 lb (250g) lean ground beef
1/2 jar pasta sauce
300g (1.5 cups) brown mushrooms, sliced thin
2 tbsp whipping cream
splash of whisky
1 tsp thyme
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped spinach

salt and pepper to taste

200g pasta (choose noodles with some shapes to hold the filling)

1/2 cup mozarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Start cooking the pasta.

In a large dutch oven on medium heat, cook onion, garlic and beef until the meat has browned.

Add the pasta sauce, mushrooms, cream, whisky, thyme, parmesan, and spinach. Heat until cooked through. Add cooked noodles and stir until well mixed.  Leave a good bit of liquid so it doesn't dry out while baking.

Pour into a greased 8x8 casserole dish. Shred fresh mozzarella over the top.

Bake at 350F (175C) for 25 minutes.