Beefy Rotini

Beefy Rotini is a favourite for Back-to-School time. After all, it’s a quick, wholesome weeknight meal that’s ideal for lunch leftovers or freezer meals. Additionally, this Beefy Rotini meal covers your nutritional bases with protein, carbohydrates and lots of veggies. Lastly, you have the flexibility to use up whatever veggies you have on hand.

Here’s the ingredients I used for this Beefy Rotini recipe.

Why Batch Cook Beefy Rotini?

A mindset shift to batch-cooking allows you to focus on planned leftovers. This means if you plan on cooking a pasta meal, you’re not just making enough for one dinner. Instead, you’re making enough for dinner, lunch-leftovers AND freezer leftovers! Consequently, this sets you up for success when you’re inevitably too busy to cook and want to avoid expensive (and salt-laden) fast food. Dietitians like to say, “cook once and eat twice, or three times.”

Meal Prep Tip: Think of making your kitchen an “assembly line;” have a vision for how much you want to cook and how many lunches or dinners you are looking to make. After all, we know that making twice as much does not take twice as long.

Cut and prep all ingredients ahead so they’re ready to add to your pan when cooking.

What is Rotini used for?

Rotini is the corkscrew/twisted-shaped pasta. It’s used in this Beefy Rotini recipe because it holds oil-based sauces, meats and cheese well. Rotini is also commonly used in baked pasta dishes, pasta salad and thick tomato-based sauces.

Choosing rotini pasta helps this beefy sauce stick to the noodles.

Beefy Rotini Recipe

• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 375 grams Rotini Pasta (cook al dente with some firmness to the bite).
• Reserve 1-3 cups of salted pasta cooking water.
• Olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 kg (or 2.2 pounds) Lean Ground Beef, raw
• Bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh herbs (I used half scallions and Italian Parsley)
• 3 cups arugula, fresh
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish: Parmesan cheese, black pepper & fresh herbs.

Beefy Rotini Directions:

1. Firstly, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add your pasta and stir to prevent sticking on the bottom. Cook rotini until al dente or firm to the bite. You will still be cooking for an extra three minutes later and will heat further with leftovers.
2. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside. Do not run cooked pasta under water stream as we want the starchiness on the pasta to help sauces stick.
3. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sautee onions about two minutes until fragrant and softened. Add a pinch of Kosher salt to draw flavours.
4. Next, add ground beef to onions and stir to prevent sticking. Add more olive oil if needed. Break apart meat with a wooden spoon to slightly brown the meat. Can also add little pasta water to give moisture.
5. Then, add peppers and tomatoes to the meat and stir to combine and cook peppers.
6. Toss in fresh parsley and green onions to meat mixture and stir to combine. Allow this to cook for another minute.
7. Next, add grated mozzarella cheese to meat mixture. Stir and allow to melt with heat.
8. Add pasta to meat content and stir to combine. Pour in pasta cooking water, as needed, for extra sauce moisture.
9. To finish, add fresh arugula and toss to combine all ingredients. This will soften with the heat and does not take long.
10. Then, taste and adjust salt and pepper in your pasta meat mixture to your preference.
11. Finally, serve garnished with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese.

Beefy Rotini

Yield: 5

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This Beefy Rotini makes the perfect weeknight dinner or lunch leftovers.

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Ingredients

• 375 grams Rotini Pasta (cook al dente with some firmness to bite).
• Reserve 1-3 cups of salted pasta cooking water.
• Olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 kg Lean Ground Beef, raw
• Bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup fresh herbs (I used half scallions and Italian Parsley)
• 3 cups arugula, fresh
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
• Garnish: Parmesan cheese, black pepper & fresh herbs.

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add your pasta and stir to prevent sticking on the bottom. Cook rotini until al dente or firm to the bite. You will still be cooking for an extra three minutes later and will heat further with leftovers.
2. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside. Do not run cooked pasta under water stream as we want the starchiness on the pasta to help sauces stick.
3. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sautee onions about two minutes until fragrant and softened. Add a pinch of Kosher salt to draw flavours.
4. Next, add ground beef to onions and stir to prevent sticking. Add more olive oil if needed. Break apart meat with a wooden spoon to slightly brown the meat. Can also add little pasta water to give moisture.
5. Then, add peppers and tomatoes to the meat and stir to combine and cook peppers.
6. Toss in fresh parsley and green onions to meat mixture and stir to combine. Allow this to cook for another minute.
7. Next, add grated mozzarella cheese to meat mixture. Stir and allow to melt with heat.
8. Add pasta to meat content and stir to combine. Pour in pasta cooking water for moisture and a sauce.
9. To finish, add fresh arugula and toss to combine all ingredients. This will soften with the heat and does not take long.
10. Taste and adjust salt and pepper of your pasta meat mixture to your preference.
11. Serve garnished with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese.