Mexican Pasta Bake

2026 season opener. 3-0. Webb is the receiver this team has been building toward — his route-running is precise enough to define the passing game and his yards-after-catch are significant enough to change field position. Williams has the defense playing with a violence that takes other teams the first half to adjust to. We are what we've been for a decade: the program other programs are building toward.

Hector is having more good weeks this fall. Marisol credits the new medication combination — the cardiologist found a balance that stabilized the fluid retention in a way the previous regimens couldn't sustain. He's been to church twice this fall, which he hadn't been able to manage since last spring. He told me about the second visit on the phone: "I sat in the front pew. The priest saw me come in and he smiled and I thought — I thought, this is a good Sunday." It was a good Sunday. Keep having the good Sundays. I told him that. He said, "You sound like your mother." I said I'd heard worse.

The twins are in middle school. Marco's grades are exceptional. Elena won a state fiction competition — a short story competition for middle school students, and she won outright. The story was about a grandfather and his granddaughter making tamales, which she has not mentioned to Hector and which I will not tell him about because he will want to read it immediately and I want her to choose when he reads it. She'll tell him. She'll tell him in the right moment. She has always known the right moment.

Red chile beef enchiladas this week. The full process. The house smelled like every Sunday of my childhood.

The enchiladas were the full Sunday process — the kind that takes most of the afternoon and makes the house smell like something your childhood self would recognize before you even opened the door. When I want that same feeling on a week when time is shorter but the need is just as real, this Mexican Pasta Bake is where I land: seasoned beef, chile, cheese, the whole thing baked together until it’s bubbling and right. Hector is having good Sundays. Elena is writing stories she’ll share when the moment is hers. Those are the kinds of weeks that deserve a dish you can feel in your chest.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

12 oz penne or rotini pasta
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (15 oz) red enchilada sauce
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Sour cream, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro for serving

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until just shy of al dente, about 1 minute less than directed. Drain and set aside — it will finish cooking in the oven.
Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to the beef and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano; cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
Combine. Add enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, and corn to the skillet. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from heat.
Mix with pasta. Add the drained pasta to the skillet and fold everything together until well coated. Stir in 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese.
Transfer and top. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly. Scatter the remaining Monterey Jack and all of the cheddar evenly over the top.
Bake. Bake uncovered at 375°F for 20–25 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and lightly golden at the edges.
Rest and serve. Let the bake rest 5 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro as desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mexican Pasta Bake — The Sunday Kitchen Smell That Lives in Your Bones