Creamy Tuscan Beef Pasta

With the last few days of constant rain or just drizzling rain I have wanted something that brought comfort.  Yes, a comfort food type of dinner.  This looked so good and I just wanted to try.  I made a quick stop on my way to work for the Campanelle pasta (spiral shape) and baby spinach as we had al of the other ingredients . However, when it came time to make dinner, I was feeling a bit under the weather.  So hubby to the rescue.  He whipped this up in about 30 minutes and made a salad to go with it.  It did taste delicious, and gave us plenty of leftovers too.  Now as for feeling under the weather - we both came down with a cold and a really wicked cough, so this easy dinner was  true comfort. 

12 oz Campanelle pasta

1 lb ground beef (80/20)

1 medium onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups spinach, packed

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 Tbs tomato paste

1 Tbs oil from sun-dried tomatoes

2 Tbs butter

2 cups milk

2 cups beef broth

1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 1/2 tsp kosher salt

To a large, deep skillet or pot add ground beef, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper. Cook beef 5 minutes on medium-high heat, make sure to break it up into little pieces using a spatula.

To the beef, add the onion, garlic, butter, sun-dried tomatoes, the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, and tomato paste. Sauté 5 mins.

 To the beef and vegetables add the pasta, beef broth, milk, and 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Mix everything together, spread pasta evenly in the pot.

Place pot on stove top and bring to a simmer. Cover with lid and cook for 10 to 12 minutes on medium-low heat (at 10 minutes remove the lid and give it a mix and check pasta if it’s done).

Remove from heat add in the spinach. Mix with pasta until the spinach wilts. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, give it a good mix, and you are ready to enjoy!