The penne pasta, ground beef, peppers, and sautéed onions in this rendition of the traditional Italian meal are baked with Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme and topped with mozzarella cheese. Serve alongside a fresh, tossed salad with your preferred Kraft light dressing.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 1 2-quart casserole |
Ingredients
- ½ pound extra lean ground beef
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped green peppers
- 1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 (10 ounce) tub PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided
- 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
- 3 cups hot cooked penne pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef, onions, and peppers in the hot skillet until beef is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme, and 1/2 cup mozzarella: cook and stir until mozzarella is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in cooked pasta until evenly coated.
- Spoon pasta mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until heated through, about 5 more minutes.
- You can substitute Italian sausage for ground beef.
- Prepare using your favorite flavor spaghetti sauce, such as mushroom or garden vegetable.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 397 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 39 g |
| Cholesterol | 64 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 922 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I was trying to replicate a baked penne dish from a local restaurant and this came very close. I didn’t realize what cooking creme was and misread it as cream cheese. I ended up using neufchatel, and I would do that again but reduce it to 4-6 ounces only. I also made it vegetarian and did not use any meat. Everyone in my family enjoyed it!
My family took 2nd and 3rd helpings! I did make some alterations, like substituting mushrooms for ground beef (made this on Ash Wednesday) and added fresh basil to the mix just before putting it into the casserole dish. I also was unable to find the Italian spread, so I used some Garlic Herb flavor instead along with regular cream cheese. I only put mozzarella cheese to the top and baked it uncovered the entire time. Served it with an Italian salad and garlic bread. Excellent!
Wonderful recipe and the créme addition ups the game of the sauce. The one called for in the recipe was not available at the market so I substituted Philadelphia whipped Garden Cream cheese and added Italian seasoning. All who dined said that this recipe was restaurant quality. Many thanks!
This was fast, easy, and delicious! I didn’t have the cooking cream so I just doubled the mozzarella cheese and it turned out great! I used thyme, oregano, basil, and garlic salt for the seasonings and it was very flavorful! My husband isn’t a big pasta fan and he loved it! Will definitely keep this recipe and look forward to pasta night now!
I added more mozzarella cheese to the recipe. I will be making it again. My family loved it, including my picky husband.
This has been a favorite in my house since I first made it.
I used bison instead of beef and added some spicey sausages with green bell pepper. Turned out great. My family loves it
love this! family favorite for years!! i use lots of spices and garlic. sub hamburger for sweet italian sausage. i cant find the cooking creme anymore so i make my own with spices , garlic, italian seasoning. my hubby’s favorite pasta dish 🙂
Being Canadian, we don’t have access to some delicacies that our neighbours down south have. Since we don’t have Italian Cheese and Herb cooking cream, I just used a small container of regular Philly Cream Cheese and seasoned the out of this with Italian spices. My whole family loved it! My 18 month old kept vigorously signing “more”! Cant wait to try it next time with Herb and Garlic cream cheese and some freshly grated parmesan.
Say goodbye to those expensive bag dinners that are similar to this dish! I don’t think they even make the cooking cream anymore, but who cares? I used about 8oz of regular cream cheese, 1 can of diced tomatoes (slightly drained), 1 small can of mushrooms, and a pack of mild Italian turkey sausages (removed casing and mashed them up while cooking) instead of ground beef. I also added a bit more seasoning – garlic powder and oregano, a dash of red pepper flakes. I topped it with a bit more mozzarella and WOW! Super easy and delicious. This recipe also keeps well for a couple of days of leftovers on busy nights. This one is a winner!
I made it but I used a block of cream cheese, added more cheese on top. It was a hit with my picky family. This recipe is a perfect amount of food with very little leftover, plus it’s still tastes great as leftovers.
I make all the time it is better with Italian sausage than beef . You can make it with the savor garlic sauce then Italian herb .
Great, easy family dinner. Switched out a few ingredients as the notes suggested: pork for burger, cheddar for mozzarella, and plain cream cheese for crime. This is a great way to bring a creamy-ness to a red sauce. We’ll be using this again!
Decided to make this for the Mr. Because I was too afraid to make lasagna… don’t judge me, I’m a horrible cook. I had to substitute the Philadelphia spread from the recipe because apparently Philly doesn’t make it anymore. No problem though, I just got regular cream cheese and Italian seasoning (Something Philadelphia suggested as a replacement) tasted just as good. So I browned the beef, put the onions and peppers in along with salt and pepper and ohhh my goodness it was smelling wonderful. My noodles were almost done as I added my cream cheese and mozzarella cheese. I dumped my noodles into a baking dish and mixed in my beef/cheese mix and added more mozzarella on top then baked it. When it came out it smelled great, I took a bite and… well I was disappointed. I was frustrated and a little upset because it just tasted bland. As I stood in front of my oven wondering how I was going to feed this to my hardworking man I look to my right and realized I did not put the pasta sauce in the meal! y’all the excuses I came up with as to why dinner would be another twenty minutes. I dumped it all back in a pan, added my sauce and then served it to him and it was great!! The recipe, when made properly, is easy and just plain good leftovers as well. I would absolutely make this again and and add a nice salad to go along with it!
This is a great recipe! It’s very easy to make, tastes great, and leaves you with big portions. I made one small change; instead of using the cooking cream, I mixed an 8 oz tub of cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of milk. I also added some extra mozzarella, following the advice of many others on the forum.
Very good recipe. The only thing I had to change was the flavor of creme cheese because the store didn’t have the same favor. I also omitted the pepper. My kids and husband really enjoyed the dish.
Love how easy this was to throw together and very gourmet
They no longer make that cooking cream. So I had to substitute with one tub of cream cheese, two tablespoons of milk, and two tablespoons of Italian seasoning. That was Kraft’s suggestion for substituting. I used a little more green peppers and less onions. I loved it, my husband said it was “okay” but he’s not a big fan of peppers or onions.
My husband and I loved this recipe. I substituted cream cheese for the Philly cream, used Raos Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce, 1 can diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried parsley, oregano and extra veggies (peppers and onions) as well as added a small amount of parmesan cheese and it was wonderful!
Very good and easy! I doubled it and stirred in a block of cream cheese and a little italian seasoning since I didn’t have the cooking cream it called for. I also didn’t use the green peppers since we don’t like them. It was really, really good!
I added a layer of pepperoni before I sprinkled the cheese and it was wonderful.