Steak and Bacon Pasta Bake

Steak and Bacon Pasta Bake

This leftover rescue recipe is what can happen at our house when we clean out the fridge. When putting together dinner the other night, we discovered leftover rare grilled prime rib steak from the night before as well as some extra crisp cooked bacon from the Caesar salad we served with that steak. We also had made a large batch of our quick cooked Spicy Tomato compote which, like last weekend, we often serve at brunch as a terrific accompaniment to scrambled eggs, omelets, hash browns or frittatas, so we had a few cups of that left over as well.

All that was required to put this meal together was to boil some pasta, grate some cheddar cheese and get it all into the oven. We reheated the tomato compote to speed up the baking tome and only had the entire dish in the oven for about a half hour. The kids especially loved this pasta dish and even had the leftover leftovers for lunch the next day.

1 pound leftover grilled steak or roast beef, chopped in bite sized pieces ( or brown some lean ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper)
6 slices crisp cooked bacon, chopped
6 cups cooked pasta
3 cups Spicy Tomato Compote (recipe below)
3 cups grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Brush a 9x9 baking dish with 2 tbsp olive oil. Toss together the pasta, beef, bacon and tomato compote. Place half in the oiled baking dish and sprinkle on half the cheese. Add the second half of the pasta mixture and the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 minutes for 30 minutes and serve.

Spicy Tomato Compote

4 cloves minced garlic
6 tbsp olive oil
8-10 large ripe tomatoes diced
2 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed chili sauce or chili flakes (more or less to taste to control the heat)
salt and pepper to season

Saute the garlic in the oil over medium heat for just a minute before adding the tomatoes, brown sugar, chili sauce, salt, pepper. Continue to cook until the tomatoes soften and the compote reduces to a jam-like consistency. Add the balsamic vinegar in the final minute or two of cooking time.