Mexican Pasta Bake

The other night I was craving Mexican food... and pasta (as a side note, I'm almost always craving pasta, so it's really not that unusual) so I decided to take a recipe I saw in Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine and change it up a bit. Instead of corn tortillas, I used rotini pasta. Oh yeah - it's as if Italian food and Mexican food made sweet sweet love in a casserole dish. It's so easy, you'll say gracias/grazie!

Mexican Pasta Bake

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3/4 lb. Rotini Pasta, cooked and drained

1/2 large onion, sliced

15-20 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. chili powder

1 can seasoned chili beans (I used Bush's)

1 jar medium salsa

1 large tomato, sliced

1 cup shredded taco seasoned cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute 8 minutes (or until transparent). Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are cooked through (about 8-10 minutes more). Stir in chili powder.

Pour cooked pasta into a 9x13" baking dish. Pour mushroom and onion mixture over the pasta and spread over the pasta. Next, pour beans and salsa over everything and spread as evenly as possible. Take the sliced tomatoes and arrange them on top so they aren't overlapping. Last, sprinkle the taco cheese over everything and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20-25 minutes covered (until the center is hot), then uncover and and cook for 5-7 more minutes - until the cheese is bubbly.