Taco Night Casserole

My daughter wanted tacos tonight for dinner but I had no taco shells on hand. I did, however, have some tortilla chips, so I thought I would try something new. Also, the weather has turned very chilly, so using the oven is no big deal today. I found a taco bake recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to make a few adjustments to it to suit our taste and my pantry stock. It was a huge hit with my daughter, who asked for seconds. My husband thought it was "good and different". I agree with him. It was good and it was different. A nice little change of pace for taco night. Next time I make this, I am going to line the bottom with tortilla chips and spread some refried beans on them, pour the rest of the taco mixture on top of that and then bake. I also think I may leave out the pasta one time for a party-type dip.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz pasta (I used macaroni)
  
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 10 oz tomato sauce
• 14 oz salsa
• Cheese blend (I used cheddar, romano and mozzarella), a couple handfuls
  
• Can of corn, drained
  
• Taco seasoning
  
• Tortilla chips
• Sour cream

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
  
• Boil pasta according to package directions to al dente.
  
• Over medium heat, brown beef in a skillet with the garlic until no longer pink; drain.
• In a large bowl, combine the pasta, beef, tomato sauce, salsa, a handful of cheese, corn and taco seasoning; pour into 13x9-inch baking dish.
• Crush tortilla chips over all and top with cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
  
• Serve over tortilla chips and top with sour cream.