The Cook & Kitchen staff have a little pasta in mind for dinner tonight, and it's coming your way as a one-dish meal from our "Creative Casserole" collection.

Oops, did we say a little pasta? This one-dish meal could nearly serve a soccer team. The recipe states that it serves eight, but we've had leftovers in the fridge from a group of ten... And they were hungry. Perhaps they were just saving room for the cannoli and coffee, but we thought that was an idle, post-dinner rumor. Prepare and enjoy!

Brown ground beef, chopped onion, and minced garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain excess fat, if necessary, and reserve.

Cook chopped spinach as directed on the package; drain, and reserve the liquid. Add enough water to the reserved spinach water to make 1 cup. Combine spinach liquid with the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and salt and pepper, and add to the browned meat and vegetables. Simmer for about 10 minutes to thoroughly combine meat with the sauces.

Meanwhile, cook the elbow or shell macaroni as directed on the package, drain, and reserve. Combine the cooked spinach with the macaroni in a large mixing bowl. Add cheese, bread crumbs, eggs, and oil to the spinach and macaroni, stirring from the bottom to combine all ingredients.

Spread the macaroni mixture into a 9-inch by 13-inch oven-proof baking dish. Cover with the meat sauce, and bake in a pre-heated 350-F degree oven for about a half an hour.

This hearty one-dish meal goes perfectly with a leafy green salad and garlic toast.

v2.0l.