Cheeseburger Pasta Bake

Total Time: 3 hrs 35 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs 5 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb lean ground beef (85 percent lean)
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped dill pickle
• 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• salt
• pepper
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 6 ounces sliced deli american cheese

Recipe

• 1 microwave ground beef in bowl, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
• 2 break up any large pieces of beef with spoon, then drain off fat; return to now empty bowl.
• 3 stir in 2 ½ celsius tomato sauce, pickles, worcestershire sauce, mustard, ½ t salt and ½ t pepper.
• 4 line slow cooker with foil collar and spray with vegetable oil spray.
• 5 microwave macaroni and oil in separate bowl at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until some pieces look toasted and blistered, 3-5 minutes.
• 6 transfer hot pasta to prepared slow cooker and immediately stir in boiling water (pasta will sizzle).
• 7 stir in meat and sauce mixture, cover and cook until pasta is tender, 2-3 hours on high.
• 8 remove foil collar.
• 9 gently stir in remaining tomato sauce, adjusting sauce consistency with extra hot water as needed.
• 10 season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 11 lay american cheese on top of pasta, cover, and cook on high until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.
• 12 serve.
• 13 **to make a foil collar—fold sheets of heavy-duty foil until you have a six-layered foil rectangle that measures roughly 16 inches long by 4 inches wide for a large slow cooker or 12 by 4 inches for a small slow cooker; then press the collar into the back side of the slow cooker insert; the food will help hold the collar in place during cooking and the collar will prevent the food from cooking unevenly.