Beans, Trees, and Bows Casserole

While it takes a while to bake, this Beans, Trees, and Bows Casserole goes together fairly quickly. Using store-bought spaghetti sauce makes things quick and easy. (We have yet to find a store-bought spaghetti sauce that even comes to close to being as good our homemade version, but we haven't experimented much yet. Does anyone have any recommendations for particularly tasty store-bought spaghetti sauce?)

It also seems to be a reasonably healthy concoction, if you can stand the calories/starch content of the pasta. Those who want vegetarian dishes can make this fit the bill if they are careful with the spaghetti sauce they buy.

I'm a big fan of both beans and pasta or noodles, so I'm always happy to find a dish that uses both. The addition of spaghetti sauce and broccoli makes this an unusually interesting and pleasant blend of flavors and textures.

We haven't yet tried it with Parmesan cheese instead of Romano, but I'd bet that it would still be quite good that way.

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce
• 1 16-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups bow-tie pasta, uncooked
• 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
• 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese

Over medium heat, sauté the garlic, onions and carrots in butter until the vegetables are softened. Stir in vinegar and spaghetti sauce and heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and remove from heat.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli. After cooking, drain well.

Pour the broccoli and bow-tie pasta mixture into a greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Pour the spaghetti sauce and bean mixture over the pasta and stir. Sprinkle the Romano cheese on top.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 2 or 3 minutes until the cheese is slightly browned.

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