Variation on a (Taco Bake) Theme

Raves for the Taco Bake recipe has been floating around the What's Cooking board for a long time now. We made our own variation on the recipe based on the original found on Lindsay's Love Deliciousness blog and what we had in our cupboard. It was creamy and delicious and will definitely be added to the dinner rotation for the future.



The original recipe called for baking in a 9 x 13 inch pan. This was too large for just the two of us, so I split the recipe into two 8x8 inch pans. One for tonight and one for a future dinner.


The Taco Bake Variation


Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
3 heaping tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning (from The Complete Tightwad Gazette)
16 oz. spaghetti sauce
8 oz. fusilli pasta
8 oz. package fat free cream cheese, softened in microwave
1/2 cup sour cream
8 oz. shredded co-jack cheese


Directions
Brown ground turkey, drain if necessary.
Add taco seasoning and tomato sauce.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
Mix softened cream cheese and sour cream in separate bowl.
Spray bottoms of two 8x8 pans.
Put pasta in bottom of pans.
Spread cream cheese mixture over pasta.
Spoon ground meat mixture over this.
Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
Bake one pan @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Let cool 15 minutes before serving.


Cover the other pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
Place in freezer for another night's dinner.
Remover from freezer and let thaw.
Bake per instructions above.

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