Baked Ziti
We couldn't pass up the chance to do a recipe for Baked Ziti. Who doesn't love pasta, meat sauce and cheese?
We wanted to play around with a slightly less heavy version of this dish, so we reduced the amount of meat and added vegetables--your favorite frozen mix will do nicely. Then we upped the flavor with our rich Sicilian Bread Dipping Seasoning. Red Pepper Flakes add bite to the sauce, and Italian Seasoning adds the herbaceous lift baked ziti always needs.
Prep Time: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 45 min.
Servings: 6-8
Cooking Method: Baking
Category: Casseroles
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients:
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound ziti or penne pasta
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, cut in a 1/4 inch dice
- 8 ounces ground beef, pork, or turkey, or a combination of the above
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons Sicilian Bread Dipping Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons California Roasted Minced Garlic
- 8 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded - divided
- 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. When pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain the rest. Set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, lightly spray the bottom and sides of a casserole dish or lasagna pan with cooking spray.
- In a Dutch oven or large pan, heat olive oil to medium-high heat.
- Add onions and cook until tender, 3-5 minutes.
- Add meat and cook until browned and cooked through, 5-8 minutes
- Add crushed tomatoes, Sicilian Bread Dipping Seasoning, California Roasted Minced Garlic, and vegetables.
- Cook about 10-15 minutes until sauce is heated through and vegetables are tender but still crisp.
- If sauce seems too thick add enough of the reserved pasta water to desired consistency.
- Reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta sauce and let cool.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, 3 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning and the reserved pasta sauce. Mix to combine.
- Put pasta, all but 1/2 cup of remaining sauce, and ricotta mixture in a large bowl. Stir to combine, and spread into the prepared casserole dish.
- Spread remaining 1/2 cup of pasta sauce evenly over the top of the ziti.
- Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese cubes. Push the cheese cubes down slightly into the sauce to prevent sticking.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake 25-30 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake uncovered 5-10 minutes more until cheese is completely melted and dish is hot and bubbly.
- After removing from oven, allow the dish to site for 10-15 minutes before serving.
