This Maple Blueberry French Toast Bake is a crowd-pleasing variation of French Toast from our cookbook, What’s for Lunch?. Instead of dipping individual slices of bread into an egg mixture and frying them, we bake up a pan full of bread cubes with a delicious maple custard mixture and blueberries. If you don’t have blueberries, substitute cranberries or diced apples, or whisk 1 cup mashed squash or pumpkin in with the egg mixture!
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and beef; cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, baking soda, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add macaroni and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Sprinkle with parmesan or cheddar, if desired.
