The Best Hamburger Cheese Bake

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 2 cups prepared tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups uncooked egg noodles (any size)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, tops and bottoms
• ¼ cup green bell pepper chopped
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, brown beef and chopped onion in olive oil. Drain off fat and discard.
3. Add tomato sauce, sugar, salt, garlic powder and black pepper, mix then remove from heat. Set aside.
4. Cook egg noodles to just under al dente. Drain and set aside.
5. While noodles are cooking, in a large bowl mix cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, scallions and bell pepper. Mix to combine.
6. In a 2-quart rectangular casserole dish (ours was 11x7x1½ inches in size), spread half the noodles. Top with half the beef sauce. Cover with all of the cheese mixture. Cover with remaining noodles and remaining beef sauce then top with Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes and serve.

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