Taco Pasta

Family Friendly Meals Series, Day 6

Yesterday was National Taco Day. In celebration, I share my family's favorite comfort food recipe. We call it Taco Pasta.

Ingredients
1 lb gemelli pasta
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 package taco seasoning (choose your own level of spiciness, my kids like mild)
8 slices american cheese
1.5-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Put your pasta water on to boil
2. Put your turkey in a skillet on the stovetop on medium to brown,
3. Just as the water comes to a boil and you add your pasta to the pot, your turkey meat should be just about browned. Drain any excess fat off your turkey meat, add the taco seasoning and about 1/8 cup water to the taco meat. Using a spatula, or I use my PC Mix and Chop, chop the turkey meat into small bits. To keep it moist, you can add a bit more water and/or reduce the heat while your pasta finished cooking. You just don't want the turkey meat to get dried out. At this point, you want to preheat your oven to 300.
4. Once the pasta is done, mix the cooked and seasoned turkey meat with the cooked pasta in the pasta pot, letting the taco-seasoned juices coat the pasta.
5. Dump half this mixture in a baking dish. Cover this first layer with the american cheese. Then dump the other half of the pasta mixture on top. Cover with the shredded cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and put in the oven for 20 mins covered and then uncover for the last 10.