Lambie's Bow Tie Bakeoff

My daughter, whose nickname is "Lambie" helped me come up with this one. I was impressed - it's delicious! Even better than that - it really fast, and the kid's loved it. 

1 lb ground beef
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
4 large tomatoes, diced and seeded
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half
1 Tbl SOS (see blog entry for SOS)
1 4 ounce can mushroom bits and pieces, drained
2 Tbl tomato paste
1 1/2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 can vegetable juice
1 1 lb box of bowtie pasta

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Over medium heat in a very large skillet, brown ground beef. Drain fat.* Add thyme, celery, onion and pepper and saute until fragrant, about 6-8 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook another 3-4 minutes. Add sour cream, half and half, SOS, mushrooms, and tomato paste, and vegetable juice. Stir very well to combine. Add all of the Pepper Jack cheese and half the cheddar, stirring well. Remove from heat.
3. In a large casserole, combine pasta and beef mixture. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. 
4. Bake covered for 1/2 hour, then remove cover and continue for another 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly throughout, and cheese is melted and gooey.

*If you are using browned ground beef with very intensely flavored ingredients, try this trick. Under extremely hot running water, drain the cooked ground beef into a small strainer. This will remove almost all of the fat, and you'll never taste the difference. Very sneaky.