Tex-Mex Stuffed Shell casserole

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked forever, and finally got to play around with it. And I’m so glad I did! Mine is, um, not photogenic. But it sure is tasty! It’s like Tex-Mex comfort food, which is exactly what sounds great to me this time of year. Well, really, any time of year, if we’re being honest here. It’s a nice departure from my standby of cultural divide casserole (have you weighed in?) which gets made a lot in winter weeknights.

All told, you will need

• 1 12-oz box large pasta shells
• 1 large (29 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 can Ro-Tel
• 4 Tbsp. (or one packet) taco seasoning
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• Salt
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

To make:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Boil the pasta shells in well-salted water for about four minutes less than the time indicated on the box for al dente (mushy noodles = bad)
3. Make the sauce by combining tomato sauce, Ro-Tel, taco seasoning, and black beans; heat to a low simmer in a saucepan
4. Make the ground beef mixture by browning the beef, onion, and garlic together, then stirring in cumin, chili powder, and salt; turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese
5. Assemble the casserole by putting in a bottle layer of shells into a large baking dish, each shell stuffed with about a Tbsp. of the ground beef mixture (a small cookie scoop works great for this), follow with about half the tomato sauce mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers, then cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so until cheese is bubbly

I would love to hear what your cold-weather favorites are! What else should I try?