Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomato Soup Pasta Bake

If you've been around here for any time, you know that I gravitate towards easy to make dinners.  When I came across this recipe for a grilled cheese and tomato soup inspired pasta bake I knew that it would be a winner in my home.  One: we love a cheesy grilled cheese sandwich and two: half of us love tomato soup {I'm looking at you Truman, my little soup buddy! 😂}

I looked in my pantry to check ingredients and then adapted it for what we had available.  I mean, it's Coronavirus time, so you work with what you have! 😉

Ingredients

1 box of pasta {Any kind will do!  We used bowtie, the original recipe called for penne}

1 can of tomato soup

4 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of crumbled bacon {I used a precooked, mircowave bacon}

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

cheddar cheese  {I used a bag of mixed Mexican cheesed and it worked great too!}

{What I left out of the original recipe: cumin, diced tomatoes, cilantro leaves.  I also modified the tomato soup for what I had available.}

Preparing the dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While your oven is preheating, cook your pasta according to directions on the box.

At the same time, melt your butter in a pan.  I used my cast iron skillet and it was a great way to cook it from start to finish!

As the butter melts add in you spices {garlic salt, pepper, paprika} and the bacon!  Everything is better with bacon, amiright?

When your pasta was boiling, add the can of tomato sauce to your cast iron skillet or pan to start melding the flavors together.

After you drain the pasta, dumped it into your skillet and gently mixed the pasta into the sauce.

If you're using a cast iron skillet, top the dish with all of the cheese!  😂

If you're not using a pan that can be put into the oven, transfer the saucy pasta + bacon mixture into your preferred cookware and then top with cheese.

Place your dish into the oven and back for 20 minutes so that the cheese is melted and bubbly!

Let cool and serve!

Salad, rolls and of course brownies for dessert are excellent companions to this meal.

This dish received high accolades from all three of my dudes!  Benjamin said that the flavors were well mixed and very smooth.  Me, I'm looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today! 😂

Adapted from Picky Palate's Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Pasta Bake.