20110302 Spinach and Cheese Oven Casserole

(SOURCE: Albert Heijn Recepten - Ovenpasta met kaas en spinazie)

I made enough so my husband could have some leftover for lunch tomorrow. But when I suggested that, he frowned and said it was dangerous to reheat spinach - a Dutch taboo I learned tonight. There are a lot of discussions in various forums about this myth, and this article my husband found explains it all. The Dutch taboo won't stop me from reheating spinach for sure, but I will try to avoid keeping spinach in the fridge for longer than 2 days. Better be safe than sorry, right?

INGREDIENTS
300g big macaroni, cooked and drained
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
300g minced beef
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
400g can peeled tomatoes
300g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
125g mozzarella cheese, in blocks
salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
1. Heat the oven to 200 degree C. Heat the oil in a pan over high heat, and brown the garlic and onion for about a minute. Add the minced beef and brown for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cut them into small pieces with a wooden spatula. Add the spinach and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the cooked macaroni and mozzarella cheese to the pan. Mix well, and remove from heat. Pour the content from the pan to a casserole dish. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.