Queso-Taco Pasta Bake

Queso-Taco Pasta Bake

Betty Crocker and Old El Paso Brands team up in this dish:

I have been getting emails from www.bettycrocker.com

So many tempting and great looking recipes I'd like to try.

Two recipes caught my eye this past week.  This dish, Queso-Taco Pasta Bake, was dinner for me and my husband tonight.  It will also be my work week lunches. This dish is delicious.  I am really glad I tried this recipe.  This recipe calls for a pouch of Old El Paso Roasted Tomato Mexican Cooking Sauce.  I had never noticed this product on the store shelves before. I was not sure if my store would carry it or not so I decided to try this recipe if I could find the product.  I found it a City Market (Kroger). 

Here's the LINK for this recipe:  http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/queso-taco-pasta-bake/aba62f48-59bb-44d9-af75-1e16a9b9103f

I followed the recipe almost exactly. Crazy, right?.  The only change I made was that I used 8 ounces of grated extra sharp cheddar cheese in the cheese sauce instead of just 6 ounces as called for.  For the salsa, I used "medium" salsa.  The recipe is basically a fancy macaroni and cheese recipe. You start with butter and flour to make a roux and then add in chicken broth. Then you melt in some cheddar cheese and the simmering sauce.  The pasta is cooked separately.  Then ground beef, onion, cumin, and salsa are cooked separately. You combine all these ingredients and then bake it in the oven with a little more cheese on top.  This recipe calls for cumin, which is one of my all time favorite flavors.  Good stuff!