Pasta bake with red-wine tomato sauce

• olive oil
• small onion, diced
• ~2 t. minced garlic
• red bell pepper, diced
• 1 lb. ground beef (I use 93/7)
• 3 28 oz. cans tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, or whole tomatoes, food processed (I prefer a chunkier pasta sauce but the husband won’t eat it if there are chunks of tomato, so I either food process crushed or whole tomatoes, or I use plain canned tomato sauce – they’re interchangeable, so use what you have or prefer)
• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• s+p, Prudhomme’s Pasta Magic seasoning, Tony C’s, crushed red pepper, basil, and oregano
• splash (1/3-1/2 cup) of red wine (I use whatever I have on hand, usually a Cab, but a Chianti would be perfect)
• 1 package Tinkyada brown rice spirals
• mozzarella cheese

Drizzle oil into a stockpot and heat.  Add onion, garlic, and red pepper and cook until onions are translucent.  Add ground beef and turn heat up to high and cook until beef is no longer pink.  Drain grease and add tomato sauce, paste, wine, and seasonings.  Simmer on low for at least an hour.

Cook pasta until just al dente (12 min for us), drain, and rinse with cold water.  Divide cooked pasta evenly among 2 13×9 pans and add sauce, mix, and top with cheese.  Bake at 350* for 30 min.