7-Ingredient Simple Ground Beef and Rigatoni
A simple and quick weeknight meal using pantry staples. This rigatoni and ground beef is cooked with marinara sauce, garlic, onion, zucchini and topped off with cheese.
Ingredients
- 8 oz rigatoni pasta
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/3 yellow, white, or red onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar marinara sauce I used various Bertolli varieties
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 zucchini shredded (I used larger holes on grater)
- 3/4 cup mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese tested only mozzarella and mozzarella + parmesan
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook 2 minutes less than al dente. Drain but RESERVE 1/2 CUP PASTA WATER. Drizzle olive oil over pasta and gently stir to evenly coat the pasta with oil to prevent pasta from clumping together.
- Meanwhile, cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds or so. Reduce heat and add marinara sauce and rigatoni along with the reserved pasta water. Stir and cook another 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and shredded zucchini and mix in. Mix in shredded cheese shortly before serving.
- Serve and top with a sprinkle of shredded mozzarella, freshly ground pepper, and fresh chopped basil if desired.